People Place Larger Bets When Risky Choices Provide a Postbet Option to Cash Out.

After a risky choice, decision makers must frequently wait out a delay period before the outcome of their choice becomes known. In contemporary sports-betting apps, decision makers can "cash out" of their bet during this delay period by accepting a discounted immediate payout. An important open question is how availability of a postchoice cash-out option alters choice. We investigated this question using a novel gambling task that incorporated a cash-out option during the delay between bet and outcome. Across two experiments (N = 240 adults, recruited via Prolific), cash-out availability increased participants' bet amounts by up to 35%. Participants who were more likely to cash out when odds deteriorated were less likely to cash out when odds improved. Furthermore, the effect of cash-out availability on bet amounts was positively correlated with individual differences in cash-out propensity for bets with deteriorating odds only. These results suggest that cash-out availability may promote larger bets by allowing bettors to avoid losing their entire stake.

A mixed-methods investigation of women's experiences seeking pregnancy-related online nutrition information.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to describe women's processes for finding pregnancy-related nutrition information, their experiences seeking this information online and their ideas for improving internet sources of this information. METHODS: In total, 97 pregnant women completed an online quantitative questionnaire and 10 primiparous pregnant women completed semi-structured telephone interviews. Questionnaires and interviews asked participants to describe sources of pregnancy-related nutrition information; time of seeking; processes of searching online; experiences searching online; ideas for improving information found online. Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi square tests; interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Nearly all (96%) survey participants sought nutrition information online. Information was most commonly sought during the first trimester of pregnancy. Motivators for using the internet included convenience and lack of support from health care providers. Barriers to using online information included lack of trust, difficulty finding information and worry. Women adapted the information they found online to meet their needs and reported making positive changes to their diets. CONCLUSIONS: The internet is a key source of prenatal nutrition information that women report using to make positive dietary changes. Women would benefit from improved access to trustworthy internet sources, increased availability of information on different diets and health conditions, and increased support from health care providers.

Prenatal Nutrition in Team-Based Care: Current Practices and Opportunities for Optimization of Care.

Purpose: To describe prenatal nutrition care currently delivered by Family Health Teams (FHTs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs) in Ontario, from the perspectives of health care providers, and to identify opportunities for improving care. Methods: Ten 1-hour, interdisciplinary focus groups were conducted in FHTs and CHCs, involving a total of 73 health care providers. Focus groups ranged in size from 3 to 11 team members, and at least 3 different professions participated in each group. The shared perspectives and experiences on prenatal nutrition care were collected using a semi-structured interview guide and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Limited time was spent on prenatal nutrition education and counselling. Two themes emerged describing gaps in care: (i) providing care in "borderline" high-risk pregnancies (i.e., impaired glucose tolerance) and (ii) providing care around gestational weight gain. Providers envisioned improving services offered by increasing preventative care, empowering providers to provide more nutrition care, facilitating patient self-care, and building a 1-stop shop "medical home". Conclusions: This study's findings can guide strategies to mobilize current nutritional knowledge into routine prenatal care, and the shared vision for improvement will inform the routes for new practice that are supported by health care professionals.

Black mother's intention to vaccinate daughters against HPV: A mixed methods approach to identify opportunities for targeted communication.

OBJECTIVE: The cervical cancer disparity continues to exist and has widened between Black and non-Hispanic White women. Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines could potentially reduce this disparity, yet remain underused among Black female adolescents. We investigated psychosocial and cultural factors associated with Black mothers' intentions to vaccinate their daughters against HPV, and explored views toward a HPV vaccine mandate. METHODS: In this quantitative dominant, mixed methods study, cross sectional surveys (n=237) and follow-up semi-structured interviews (n=9) were conducted with Black mothers of daughters. A 2-step logistic regression determined factors associated with Black mothers' intention. Thematic content analysis determined emerging themes. RESULTS: Perceived susceptibility (p=.044), perceived barriers (p<.001), and subjective norms (p=.001) were significant predictors of maternal HPV vaccination intentions. Follow-up interviews provided insight into factors influencing mothers' intentions. Mothers with low intentions did not perceive their daughter to be currently sexually active or in near future, thus, not at HPV risk. Pediatricians were identified as the most influential person on maternal decision-making if there was a pre-existing relationship. However, many mothers had not received a pediatricians' recommendation for their daughters. Barriers influencing mother's decision-making include knowledge, daughters' age, and mistrust in pharmaceutical companies and physicians. Mothers were not in favor of the HPV vaccine mandate. CONCLUSIONS: Findings demonstrate the need to develop and evaluate physician-led interventions on HPV and vaccine importance, and engage these mothers in intervention development to build trust between physicians, researchers, and Black mothers to improve HPV vaccine uptake in Black female adolescents.

Qualitative Assessment of Key Messages about Nutrition and Weight Gain in Pregnancy in Printed Educational Materials in Alberta.

Printed educational materials are a common source of health information, although their effectiveness in improving women's knowledge or self-care in pregnancy has been questioned. This study describes the information in printed educational materials that address healthy eating during pregnancy and gestational weight gain (GWG) that are currently used in Alberta, Canada. Content of 6 resources was analyzed using a constant comparison qualitative approach. Resources emphasized healthy eating, prenatal supplements, folate supplementation, and healthy weight gain. More resources discussed the importance of "eating enough" than provided guidance on avoiding excessive GWG. Themes identified were: "everything is important" meaning that all healthy behaviours are important, making prioritization difficult; "more is more" emphasized eating more over moderation; "everyone is individual" suggests women seek individualized care through the care provider; and "contradictions" describes differences in content and recommendations within and between resources. New or revised versions of resources should provide congruent information with up-to-date recommendations that are easily prioritized. Care providers should be aware of contradictory information or information that does not align with current recommendations within printed educational materials and be ready to help women address the areas important for her personal behaviour change.

The effect of reward prediction errors on subjective affect depends on outcome valence and decision context.

The valence of an individual's emotional response to an event is often thought to depend on their prior expectations for the event: better-than-expected outcomes produce positive affect and worse-than-expected outcomes produce negative affect. In recent years, this hypothesis has been instantiated within influential computational models of subjective affect that assume the valence of affect is driven by reward prediction errors. However, there remain a number of open questions regarding this association. In this project, we investigated the moderating effects of outcome valence and decision context (Experiment 1: free vs. forced choices; Experiment 2: trials with vs. trials without counterfactual feedback) on the effects of reward prediction errors on subjective affect. We conducted two online experiments (N = 300 in total) of general-population samples recruited via Prolific to complete a risky decision-making task with an embedded high-resolution sampling of subjective affect. Hierarchical Bayesian computational modeling revealed that both outcome amount and reward prediction errors influenced subjective affect, but that the effects of reward prediction errors were moderated by both outcome valence and decision context. Specifically, we found evidence that only negative reward prediction errors (worse-than-expected outcomes) influenced subjective affect, with no significant effect of positive reward prediction errors (better-than-expected outcomes). Moreover, these effects were only apparent on trials in which participants made a choice freely (but not on forced-choice trials) and when counterfactual feedback was absent (but not when counterfactual feedback was present). These results deepen our understanding of the effects of reward prediction errors on subjective affect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The association between malnutrition risk and revised Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS-r) scores in an adult outpatient oncology population: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Cancer-associated malnutrition is associated with worse symptom severity, functional status, quality of life, and overall survival. Malnutrition in cancer patients is often under-recognized and undertreated, emphasizing the need for standardized pathways for nutritional management in this population. The objectives of this study were to (1) investigate the relationship between malnutrition risk and self-reported symptom severity scores in an adult oncology outpatient population and (2) to identify whether a secondary screening tool for malnutrition risk (abPG-SGA) should be recommended for patients with a specific ESAS-r cut-off score or group of ESAS-r cut-off scores. METHODS: A single-institution retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. Malnutrition risk was measured using the Abridged Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (abPG-SGA). Cancer symptom severity was measured using the Revised Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS-r). In accordance with standard institutional practice, patients completed both tools at first consult at the cancer centre. Adult patients who completed the ESAS-r and abPG-SGA on the same day between February 2017 and January 2020 were included. Spearman's correlation, Mann Whitney U tests, receiver operating characteristic curves, and binary logistic regression models were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: 2071 oncology outpatients met inclusion criteria (mean age 65.7), of which 33.6% were identified to be at risk for malnutrition. For all ESAS-r parameters (pain, tiredness, drowsiness, nausea, lack of appetite, shortness of breath, depression, anxiety, and wellbeing), patients at risk for malnutrition had significantly higher scores (P < 0.001). All ESAS-r parameters were positively correlated with abPG-SGA score (P < 0.01). The ESAS-r parameters that best predicted malnutrition risk status were total ESAS-r score, lack of appetite, tiredness, and wellbeing (area under the curve = 0.824, 0.812, 0.764, 0.761 respectively). Lack of appetite score ≥ 1 demonstrated a sensitivity of 77.4% and specificity of 77.0%. Combining lack of appetite score ≥ 1 with total ESAS score > 14 yielded a sensitivity of 87.9% and specificity of 62.8%. CONCLUSION: Malnutrition risk as measured by the abPG-SGA and symptom severity scores as measured by the ESAS-r are positively and significantly correlated. Given the widespread use of the ESAS-r in cancer care, utilizing specific ESAS-r cut-offs to trigger malnutrition screening could be a viable way to identify cancer patients at risk for malnutrition.

Patterns of Dietary Supplement Use among GBT2Q Men and Non-Binary Individuals in Canada.

There is a lack of research regarding dietary supplement (DS) use among Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Two-Spirit, Queer (GBT2Q) men and non-binary individuals, despite the higher prevalence of body image issues and societal pressure within this community. This study aimed to investigate patterns and predictors of DS use in this population, including types of DS used, sources of information, and reasons for DS use. A validated and anonymous online questionnaire was completed by 204 participants (52.5% men, 43.1% gay, mean age 29.34 + 6.77 years) across Canada, who were consuming DS at the time of the study. Analyses included descriptive statistics to characterize the sample based on gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity, and other demographic attributes, using Pearson's chi-square tests and multi-way cross-tabulation analyses. Additionally, regression analyses, including binary and logistic regressions, were employed to identify predictors of DS use. Data analysis concluded that vitamins/minerals (92.2%), proteins (84.3%) and carbohydrates (75.5%) were the most consumed types of supplements. Identifying as certain genders and sexualities was significantly associated with supplement preferences, such that men reported higher use of amino acids (p = 0.033) and non-vitamins/mineral antioxidants compared to individuals identifying as other genders (p = 0.006). Moreover, bisexual participants consumed amino acids (p = 0.043) and carbohydrates (p = 0.026) more frequently when compared to non-bisexual participants. The most listed reason for DS use was to improve immunity (60.3%), with health care professionals being listed as the source of information by most participants (51.0%). Findings from this study can serve as a foundation for further research in this area and can guide the formulation and implementation of adequate policies targeting this underserved population.

YouTube Videos on Nutrition and Dental Caries: Content Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Dental caries is the most common health condition worldwide, and nutrition and dental caries have a strong interconnected relationship. Foods and eating behaviors can be both harmful (eg, sugar) and healthful (eg, meal spacing) for dental caries. YouTube is a popular source for the public to access information. To date, there is no information available on the nutrition and dental caries content of easily accessible YouTube videos. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the content of YouTube videos on nutrition and dental caries. METHODS: In total, 6 YouTube searches were conducted using keywords related to nutrition and dental caries. The first 20 videos were selected from each search. Video content was scored (17 possible points; higher scores were associated with more topics covered) by 2 individuals based on the inclusion of information regarding various foods and eating behaviors that impact dental caries risk. For each video, information on video characteristics (ie, view count, length, number of likes, number of dislikes, and video age) was captured. Videos were divided into 2 groups by view rate (views/day); differences in scores and types of nutrition messages between groups were determined using nonparametric statistics. RESULTS: In total, 42 videos were included. Most videos were posted by or featured oral health professionals (24/42, 57%). The mean score was 4.9 (SD 3.4) out of 17 points. Videos with >30 views/day (high view rate; 20/42, 48% videos) had a trend toward a lower score (mean 4.0, SD 3.7) than videos with ≤30 views/day (low view rate; 22/42, 52%; mean 5.8, SD 3.0; P=.06), but this result was not statistically significant. Sugar was the most consistently mentioned topic in the videos (31/42, 74%). No other topics were mentioned in more than 50% of videos. Low-view rate videos were more likely to mention messaging on acidic foods and beverages (P=.04), water (P=.09), and frequency of sugar intake (P=.047) than high-view rate videos. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the analyzed videos had low scores for nutritional and dental caries content. This study provides insights into the messaging available on nutrition and dental caries for the public and guidance on how to make improvements in this area.

Comparing the perceptions and opinions of the 2007 and 2019 Canada's food guides among parents of young children.

Background: The Canada's Food Guide (CFG) is recognized as the most prominent authoritative guideline for healthy eating in Canada. In 2019, Health Canada released the latest iteration of the CFG with substantial changes to its messaging and format from the previous 2007 CFG. Objective: This study compared the awareness, use, knowledge, and opinions of the 2007 and 2019 CFGs among parents with children aged 18 months to 5 years who are participants in a family-based intervention trial, the Guelph Family Health Study. Methods: The sample consisted of 327 parents (59% women) who responded to questions about the 2007 CFG and 177 parents (60% women) who responded to questions about the 2019 CFG. Parents' awareness and knowledge of the 2007 and 2019 CFGs were compared using Pearson's Chi-Square, while parents' opinions of the two CFGs were compared using Wilcoxon Rank-Sum tests. To describe and provide context about how parents used the 2007 and 2019 CFG descriptive analysis was used. To analyze the open-answer comments parents provided for the 2007 and 2019 CFGs thematic coding was used. Results: Awareness of the 2007 and 2019 CFGs was high with 94.5 and 90.4% of parents reported having heard about the 2007 and 2019 CFGs, respectively. Knowledge of the plate proportion recommendations in the 2019 CFG was significantly higher than knowledge of the recommended number of servings in the 2007 CFG with 93.4% of parents identifying the Vegetable and Fruit Plate Proportions in the 2019 CFG. Parents identified that the 2019 CFG was a helpful and trustworthy resource, and that it was easier to follow and understand, and more representative of their culture and traditional foods than the 2007 CFG. Conclusion: Our results suggest that parents' knowledge of the 2019 CFG recommendations was higher than for the 2007 CFG recommendations. Parents also had more positive opinions about the 2019 CFG as compared to the 2007 CFG. Future research is needed to explore whether these higher levels knowledge of the 2019 CFG recommendation translate to healthier eating patterns among Canadian families.

Associations between the perceived presence of vending machines and food and beverage logos in schools and adolescents' diet and weight status.

OBJECTIVE: The increasing prevalence of obesity among youth has elicited calls for schools to become more active in promoting healthy weight. The present study examined associations between various aspects of school food environments (specifically the availability of snack- and beverage-vending machines and the presence of snack and beverage logos) and students' weight status, as well as potential influences of indices of diet and food behaviours. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, self-administered web-based survey. A series of multinomial logistic regressions with generalized estimating equations (GEE) were constructed to examine associations between school environment variables (i.e. the reported presence of beverage- and snack-vending machines and logos) and self-reported weight- and diet-related behaviours. SETTING: Secondary schools in Alberta, Canada. SUBJECTS: A total of 4936 students from grades 7 to 10. RESULTS: The presence of beverage-vending machines in schools was associated with the weight status of students. The presence of snack-vending machines and logos was associated with students' frequency of consuming vended goods. The presence of snack-vending machines and logos was associated with the frequency of salty snack consumption. CONCLUSIONS: The reported presence of snack- and beverage-vending machines and logos in schools is related to some indices of weight status, diet and meal behaviours but not to others. The present study supported the general hypothesis that the presence of vending machines in schools may affect students' weight through increased consumption of vended goods, but notes that the frequency of 'junk' food consumption does not seem to be related to the presence of vending machines, perhaps reflecting the ubiquity of these foods in the daily lives of students.

Child involvement in meal preparation and grocery shopping is associated with lower levels of food fussiness among young children.

This study examined associations between child food involvement and food fussiness. Analyses used survey data from 62 children ages 1.5 to 5.9 years who participated in the Guelph Family Health Study Pilot. Overall involvement (ß = -0.51, p = 0.02), involvement in meal preparation (ß = -0.42, p = 0.009), and involvement in grocery shopping (ß = -0.29, p = 0.04) were inversely associated with food fussiness. Experimental research including larger, more diverse samples is needed to test whether food involvement reduces food fussiness among young children. Novelty: Our study identified significant, inverse associations between child food involvement and food fussiness.

Research on freshman and sleeping habits: A text message-based sleep intervention.

OBJECTIVE: Lack of understanding regarding the function of sleep and lack of education regarding healthy sleep practices may hinder college students from getting sufficient quality sleep. The current study examines the effect of a text message based educational intervention aimed at improving sleep quality and sleep hygiene behaviors in freshman undergraduate college students. PARTICIPANTS: 135 undergraduate students were recruited fall of 2016. METHODS: Three discussion groups were held to test and refine the text message content. Students were randomized into a three-group pretest-posttest experimental design. Participants completed measures of sleep quality, sleep hygiene, and sleep knowledge. RESULTS: Data analysis indicated the intervention did not demonstrate significant differences between groups over time on sleep quality, sleep hygiene behaviors, and sleep knowledge. CONCLUSION: More research is needed to understand how best to harness text messaging technology and sleep health education to promote healthy sleep behaviors in college students.

Diet quality, nutrition and physical activity among adolescents: the Web-SPAN (Web-Survey of Physical Activity and Nutrition) project.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the overall diet quality of a sample of adolescents living in Alberta, Canada, and evaluate whether diet quality, nutrient intakes, meal behaviours (i.e. meal skipping and consuming meals away from home) and physical activity are related. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study design. Students completed the self-administered Web-Survey of Physical Activity and Nutrition (Web-SPAN). Students were classified as having poor, average or superior diet quality based on Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating (CFGHE). SETTING: One hundred and thirty-six schools (37 %) within forty-four public and private school boards (75 %) in Alberta, Canada. SUBJECTS: Grade 7 to 10 Alberta students (n 4936) participated in the school-based research. RESULTS: On average, students met macronutrient requirements; however, micronutrient and fibre intakes were suboptimal. Median CFGHE food group intakes were below recommendations. Those with poor diet quality (42 %) had lower intakes of protein, fibre and low-calorie beverages; higher intakes of carbohydrates, fat and Other Foods (e.g. foods containing mostly sugar, high-salt/fat foods, high-calorie beverages, low-calorie beverages and high-sugar/fat foods); a lower frequency of consuming breakfast and a higher frequency of consuming meals away from home; and a lower level of physical activity when compared with students with either average or superior diet quality. CONCLUSIONS: Alberta adolescents were not meeting minimum CFGHE recommendations, and thus had suboptimal intakes and poor diet quality. Suboptimal nutritional intakes, meal behaviours and physical inactivity were all related to poor diet quality and reflect the need to target these health behaviours in order to improve diet quality and overall health and wellness.

Dietary Change during Pregnancy and Women's Reasons for Change.

Women often make dietary changes during pregnancy; however, dietary modifications and reasons for changes are not well studied. We aimed to describe the dietary changes made during pregnancy, describe reasons for dietary changes, and determine what changes aligned with recommendations. Pregnant women (n = 379) recruited to the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) study in 2009/2010 completed a questionnaire in which they described dietary changes made during pregnancy and reasons for those changes. Changes and reasons were coded into categories. Women commonly reported increasing their intake of milk products, fruit, and sweet items and commonly decreased or eliminated intake of caffeine, alcohol, and meats. Women frequently reduced intake of foods for the baby's health and increased foods to satisfy cravings. Changes made commonly aligned with recommendations for caffeine, alcohol intake, food safety, milk and alternatives, and fruit. Changes contrary to recommendations were common for fish and meats. The dietary changes women make during pregnancy appear to reflect women's efforts to balance physiological changes accompanying pregnancy with the desire for healthy pregnancy outcomes. Understanding the reasons behind dietary change during pregnancy will help researchers and health professionals design effective strategies and public health messages to promote healthier pregnancies.

The association between time spent in vigorous physical activity and dietary patterns in adolescents: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity interventions targeting weight status have yielded mixed results. This variability may be attributed to compensatory changes in dietary patterns after increasing physical activity (PA) levels. Therefore, we sought to determine whether dietary patterns varied with time spent in vigorous-intensity PA in youth. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of 330 youth enrolled in a school-based prospective cohort in central Alberta. Physical activity was assessed with waist mounted accelerometers (Actical) worn for 7 days. Main outcomes included consumption of unhealthy foods and the unhealthy food index obtained from a validated web-based 24-hour dietary recall instrument. Secondary outcomes included macronutrient intake, food group (Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating) intake, and diet quality. RESULTS: Compared with youth participating in < 7 min/ day of vigorous physical activity, those achieving ≥ 7 min/day displayed no change in healthy or unhealthy food consumption. However, linear regression suggests a modest association between diet quality and vigorous-intensity PA. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that in this cohort of Canadian youth, time spent being physically active is associated with healthier dietary patterns and not with increased consumption of unhealthy foods.

Changes in dietary and physical activity risk factors for type 2 diabetes in Alberta youth between 2005 and 2008.

OBJECTIVE: Unhealthy dietary and physical inactivity patterns inspired many initiatives promoting healthy youth and healthy schools in Alberta between 2005 and 2008. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the prevalence of lifestyle risk factors for type 2 diabetes (T2D) between two province-wide samples of Alberta adolescents (2005 and 2008). METHODS: The dietary and physical activity (PA) patterns of Alberta youth were assessed in two cross-sectional studies of grade 7-10 students, one in 2005 (n=4936) and one in 2008 (n=5091), using a validated web-survey. For each diabetes risk factor, participants were classified as either at risk or not at risk, depending on their survey results relative to cut-off values. Chi-square tests and logistic regression models were used to determine differences in risk factor prevalence between 2005 and 2008. RESULTS: Compared to 2005, mean BMI, energy intake, fat intake, glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) were lower in 2008 (p<0.05); and carbohydrate, protein, fibre and vegetable and fruit intakes were higher in 2008 (p<0.05). In 2008, a lower proportion of students were: overweight, obese, consuming high GI, high GL, high fat, low fibre, low veg/fruit intake (p<0.05). No differences existed in magnesium or PA levels between the two time points. CONCLUSIONS: Improvements were observed between 2005 and 2008 in terms of the proportion of adolescents having specific risk factors for T2D. The cause of these changes could not be determined. Continued monitoring of adolescent lifestyle habits and monitoring of exposure to health promotion programming is recommended.

Anthropometric and dietary predictors of insulin sensitivity in 10- to 14-year-old boys and girls.

The high prevalence of pediatric obesity has made preventing chronic diseases through healthy lifestyle behaviours a priority within pediatrics. Examining the association between diet and insulin sensitivity (IS) in youth may provide important insights for tailoring preventative dietary interventions. The objective of this study was to explore the associations among anthropometry, diet, and IS in 10- to 14-year-olds. In this cross-sectional study, the primary outcome measure was IS, measured noninvasively using a (13)C glucose breath test. Exposure variables included body mass index (BMI) z score and several dietary variables, including glycemic index (GI), glycemic load, and fiber, magnesium, vegetable and fruit, and fat intakes, all of which were derived from a validated, Web-based 24-h recall tool. Multiple regression analyses were performed for boys and girls separately. In total, 378 students (227 girls) aged 12.1 ± 1.2 years were studied. In this sample ∼24% of youth were considered overweight or obese (BMI z score = 0.41 ± 0.93). Multiple regression analyses showed that BMI z score was negatively and independently associated with (13)C insulin sensitivity score ((13)CISS) in both boys and girls (boys: ß = -0.501; girls: ß = -0.446; both p < 0.001). GI was negatively and independently related to (13)CISS in boys (ß = -0.195, p < 0.05) but not in girls. Other dietary variables were not associated with IS. In addition to BMI z score, a low GI diet predicted (13)CISS in boys but not in girls. This finding suggests that interventions that reduce BMI (in both sexes) and include a low GI diet among boys may improve IS.

Adolescent weight status and related behavioural factors: web survey of physical activity and nutrition.

Purpose. To identify whether non-overweight students were different from their overweight or obese peers with respect to diet, suboptimal meal behaviours, and physical activity using a self-administered web-based survey. Methods. 4097 adolescents living in Alberta, Canada completed Web-SPAN (Web Survey of Physical Activity and Nutrition). Students were classified as overweight or obese, and differences were described in terms of nutrient intakes, physical activity, and meal behaviours. Results. Non-overweight students consumed significantly more carbohydrate and fibre, and significantly less fat and high calorie beverages, and had a higher frequency of consuming breakfast and snacks compared to overweight or obese students. Both non-overweight and overweight students were significantly more active than obese students. Conclusions. This research supports the need to target suboptimal behaviours such as high calorie beverage consumption, fat intake, breakfast skipping, and physical inactivity. School nutrition policies and mandatory physical education for all students may help to improve weight status in adolescents.

Geography influences dietary intake, physical activity and weight status of adolescents.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to assess rural and urban differences in the dietary intakes, physical activity levels and weight status of a large sample of Canadian youth in both 2005 and 2008. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional study of rural and urban adolescents (n = 10, 023) in Alberta was conducted in both 2005 and 2008 using a web-based survey. Results. There was an overall positive change in nutrient intakes between 2005 and 2008; however, rural residents generally had a poorer nutrient profile than urban residents (P < .001). They consumed less fibre and a greater percent energy from saturated fat. The mean physical activity scores increased among rural youth between 2005 and 2008 (P < .001), while remaining unchanged among urban youth. Residence was significantly related to weight status in 2005 (P = .017), but not in 2008. Conclusion. Although there were small improvements in nutrient intakes from 2005 to 2008, several differences in the lifestyle behaviours of adolescents living in rural and urban areas were found. The results of this study emphasize the importance of making policy and program recommendations to support healthy lifestyle behaviours within the context of the environments in which adolescents live.