Predictors of Walking Activity in Children and Adolescents With Myelomeningocele.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between real-world walking activity in children and adolescents with myelomeningocele (MMC) and gross measures of lower extremity strength, range of motion, demographics, and medical history. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Participants recruited in outpatient clinics; data collected in a hospital-based motion analysis laboratory and in the community. PARTICIPANTS: Children and adolescents (N=52) with daily step count data available from a larger study of ambulatory children and adolescents with MMC. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Univariate and multivariate regression was used to assess which participant characteristics and clinical factors were related to average number of steps per day. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed a lower number of steps per day correlated with older age, male sex, higher body mass index, higher lesion level, use of assistive devices for ambulation, history of shunt placement, more television (TV) watched per week, lower hip extension and abduction strength, knee flexion strength, and ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion strength, and decreased knee and hip range of motion. Only assistive device usage and hours of TV watched per week remained in the final multivariate model predicting number of steps per day. CONCLUSIONS: Walking activity in children and adolescents with MMC was best predicted by assistive device use and amount of sedentary activity. Other predictors of walking activity from univariate analysis were related to assistive device use. This information can help tailor rehabilitation efforts and educate patients and families. Interventions targeting early prevention of strength loss and contractures may be important to retain or increase walking activity in children and adolescents with MMC.

Culinary medicine and community partnership: hands-on culinary skills training to empower medical students to provide patient-centered nutrition education.

Given the economic burden and numerous morbidities associated with obesity and poor dietary choices, it is increasingly important for medical students to receive education on nutrition and preventive medicine so that they are equipped to advise patients about healthy lifestyle choices. Currently, 71% of US medical schools do not reach the minimum benchmark of 25 hours of nutrition education set by the National Academy of Sciences. In order to improve the quality and quantity of nutrition education at the Keck School of Medicine of USC (KSOM), medical students and faculty have partnered with LA Kitchen (LAK), a local teaching kitchen, and the Wellness Center at LA County Medical Center (LAC+USC). They developed a hands-on preclinical culinary and nutrition course that aims to teach students practical skills and knowledge that they will be able to apply to their own lives and pass onto patients. Following the completion of the first three years of the course (2016-2018), analysis suggests that the class was well-received and has improved students' nutrition knowledge, confidence in lifestyle counseling, and personal culinary skills. Given these highly encouraging observations, the project is currently aimed at incorporating nutrition education more broadly into the required preclinical curriculum at KSOM.