Maternal efficacy and sedentary behavior rules predict child obesity resilience

In a paper just published in BMC Obesity with Prof. David Crawford as first author we aimed to identify longitudinal individual, social and environmental predictors of adiposity (BMI z-score), and of resilience to unhealthy weight gain, in healthy weight children and adolescents.
Two hundred healthy weight children aged 5–12 years at baseline and their parents living in socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods were surveyed at baseline and three years later. Children’s height and weight were objectively measured, parents completed a detailed questionnaire that examined the home, social and neighborhood environments, and objective measures of the neighborhood environment were assessed using geographic information system data. Children classified as healthy weight at baseline who had small or medium increases in their BMI z-score between baseline and three year follow up were categorized as ‘resilient to unhealthy weight gain’.
Maternal efficacy for preventing their child from engaging in sedentary behaviours and rules to limit sedentary behaviours were associated with better resilience.
The findings suggest that strategies to support parents to limit their children’s sedentary behavior may be important in preventing unhealthy weight gain in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.

Correlates of dietary behavior in adults: an umbrella review

In order to inform interventions to promote healthy eating, insights in the potential determinants of dietary behaviour is important. Interventions should target such determinants to initiate dietary behaviour change. Multiple studies have been conducted on potential determinants of dietary behavior in adults, but a clear overview is currently lacking. In an open access paper just published in the journal Nutrition Reviews, with Dr. Esther Sleddens as first author, we describe a so-called umbrella review -or a review-of-reviews-  to summarize and synthesize the scientific evidence on correlates and determinants of dietary behavior in adults. We included reviews published between January 1990 and May 2014 and 14 reviews were considered eligible. We evaluated the strength of the evidence, and the methodological quality.
Social-cognitive determinants and environmental determinants (mainly the social-cultural environment) were included most often in the available reviews. Sedentary behavior and habit strength were consistently identified as important correlates of dietary behavior. Other correlates and potential determinants of dietary behavior, such as motivational regulation, shift work, and the political environment, have been studied in relatively few studies, but results were rather consistent. Because of the generally weak research design of the studies covered in the available reviews, the evidence for true determinants is suggestive, at best.