Mind Your Heart: A Mindful Eating and Diet Education eHealth Program.

OBJECTIVE: Examine user perceptions of the Mind Your Heart (MYH) program, a mindful eating and nutrition education program delivered via an eHealth system. METHODS: Sixteen participants (41.5 ± 13.1 years) completed sample MYH lessons over 3 weeks. We examined changes in mindfulness from the State Mindfulness Scale via text messages sent 3 times per week. We assessed MYH user perceptions in a semistructured interview after 3 weeks. Analyses included Spearman's correlation, repeated measures ANOVA, and thematic analysis. RESULTS: State Mindfulness Scale scores were significantly improved (F[1,15] = 5.35, P = 0.01) from week 1 (M = 2.28 ± 0.80) to week 3 (M = 2.75 ± 1.04). Four themes emerged: (1) MYH is supportive of health goals, (2) text messages act as an intervention, (3) facilitators or inhibitors of use, and (4) enhancing engagement. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Based on participant feedback, the final version of MYH should include example-based learning to translate abstract concepts like mindful eating into action.

Yoga for Functional Fitness in Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Yoga is an effective intervention to improve functional fitness in adults with and without disabilities, but little research exists regarding yoga's impact on functional fitness for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). AIMS: The purpose of this study was to examine the benefits of a group yoga intervention on the functional fitness of adults with IDDs. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This yoga intervention included 12 sessions of yoga over 7 weeks (60-min sessions twice a week) at a special population recreation and leisure program. The functional fitness test was used to examine physical functioning before and after the yoga intervention. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Eight adults completed the baseline and posttest measures (age mean = 31; standard deviation = 6.55; 50% male). There were significant improvements in lower-body strength (9.00 ± 4.63 vs. 11.50 ± 3.16, P = 0.04, 28% improvement), upper-body strength (11.25 ± 3.54 vs. 14.25 ± 3.37, P = 0.018, 27% improvement), and agility and balance (9.29 ± 4.1 vs. 6.60 ± 1.54, P = 0.036, 29% improvement). Functional fitness often declines for people with IDD at a faster rate than the general population; thus, these significant changes indicate that a yoga intervention may enhance functional fitness for people with IDD. Clinicians or other healthcare providers might consider yoga as a means to improve functional fitness in adults with IDDs.

Body image and weight management among Hispanic American adolescents: Differences by sport type.

BACKGROUND: Adolescents' body image concerns vary by sex, ages, and participation in different types of sports. Little is known about variability of body image and weight management behaviors by sport type in Hispanic American adolescents. This study examined whether body image distortion and dissatisfaction are associated with weight management behaviors by sex and sport type in Hispanic adolescents. METHODS: A sample of 728 Hispanic participants from the United States (61.6% female, Mage = 12.36 ±â€¯2.35) completed the Stunkard Figural Stimuli, reported weight management behaviors and sport participation. Sports were classified as non-aesthetic (such as soccer), aesthetic (such as cheerleading), or non-sport participation. Separate multiple linear regression and multinomial logistic regression models were conducted to test adjusted associations between body image dissatisfaction and distortion, and sport type with weight management behaviors. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Participants in non-aesthetic sports (51.2% male) were more dissatisfied with their body image (want to be bigger; B = -0.17; p = .01) and were 1.5 times more likely to use exercise to lose weight than non-sport participants. Greater body image dissatisfaction increased the likelihood of weight management behaviors. As year in school increased, participants perceived themselves as smaller than their actual BMI and wanted to be smaller. Hispanic females exhibited similar trends to other ethnicities. However, Hispanic males may have interpreted a desire to be "smaller" as a more lean, muscular physique. Subsequent studies should focus on reasons for weight management, and whether those behaviors are healthy.