Changes in Physical Activity and Television Viewing From Pre-pregnancy Through Postpartum Among a Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Perinatal Adolescent Population.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Adolescent pregnancy contributes to accelerated trajectories of adiposity and cardiometabolic diseases. Two potentially low-cost prevention strategies include promoting physical activity (PA) and limiting television (TV) viewing. Few studies have explored these behavior patterns in perinatal adolescents. This study sought to characterize PA and TV viewing in a socioeconomically disadvantaged perinatal adolescent population. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND INTERVENTIONS: A cross-sectional, retrospective, 10-item survey was used to explore behavior patterns in 79 predominantly Black (86%) postpartum adolescents. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcomes included self-reported changes in PA from pre-pregnancy through pregnancy, and 7-day recall of PA and TV viewing in postpartum. RESULTS: The majority of adolescents (66%) reported being active on ≥3 days/week in pre-pregnancy; however, many reported low PA (≤2 days/wk) in their first (59%), second (66%), and third (54%) trimesters. Adolescents who reported being active on ≥5 days/wk in pre-pregnancy (19%) experienced first trimester PA decline, which subsequently plateaued. This group remained the most active throughout pregnancy. In postpartum, over half (54%) of all adolescents reported low PA and irrespective of PA, spent considerable time watching TV (median = 1680.0 minutes, inerquartile range = 2940). CONCLUSION: Interventions promoting PA coupled with reducing TV viewing during pregnancy and in postpartum may benefit perinatal adolescents. The findings from this study suggest that PA history is a predictor of gestational PA, and low PA and high TV viewing in postpartum underscore the need for behavioral intervention. Conducting a brief assessment of PA history in early gestation may offer important insight.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to fruit and vegetable consumption of high school students.

PURPOSE: To assess the level of nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices related to fruit and vegetable consumption of high school students attending participating parochial schools in the New Orleans area. METHODS: The baseline data reported in this study, "Gimme 5: A Fresh Nutrition Concept for Students," represents one of the nine National Cancer Institute-funded projects from the national "5-A-Day for Better Health Program" initiated in 1991. A survey containing 22 nutrition-related items about fruit and vegetables was used to assess knowledge in 2213 students. RESULTS: On average, adolescents reported 39% correct knowledge scores. A significant ethnic effect (p < .001) was noted, with White adolescents scoring higher than African American adolescents. Significant ethnic differences in the frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption were also observed, with African-American adolescents reporting a lower mean consumption (2.17 servings) than white adolescents (2.69 servings). Consumption by Hispanic youth (2.48 servings) was similar to those in the "other" ethnic category (2.55 servings). Girls reported being more confident in their ability to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables per day than did boys (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Although the knowledge and consumption levels of adolescents with regard to fruits and vegetables were low, their attitudes toward learning about healthier eating practices were favorable.