• 207-01 - Parenting and Childhood Obesity: Connections Through Self-regulation
  Presented by: Carolyn Sutter, Lenna Ontai, Mical Shilts, Larissa Leavens, Christine Davidson, Jessica Shijo, Marilyn Townsend
• 207-02 - Text2BHealthy: Text-based Obesity Intervention Program
  Presented by: Lauren Messina, Katherine Speirs, Stephanie Grutzmacher
• 207-03 - “Can I Do this?”--Losing Weight After Menopause
  Presented by: Carol A. Darling, Catherine C. Coccia
• 207-04 - Parenting, Psychosocial Development, and Dietary Restraint Among Emerging Adults
  Presented by: Larry Forthun, David Diehl, Judith Fischer, Mckenzie Wilkes, Boyd Pidcock, Duane Dowd

Abstracts

Parenting and Childhood Obesity: Connections Through Self-regulation

Presented by: Carolyn Sutter, Lenna Ontai, Mical Shilts, Larissa Leavens, Christine Davidson, Jessica Shijo, Marilyn Townsend

Although recent research has focused on connections between parenting and childhood obesity, a mechanism for the association between the two remains unclear. The current study aims to explore self-regulation as a mediator in the connection between parenting quality and indicators of obesity risk in low-income preschoolers. In a sample of 51 parent-child pairs, associations were found concurrently and across time between self-report measures of parenting quality and indicators of obesity risk, including parents’ diet quality, child’s diet quality, and glucose & cholesterol levels in the blood. Future analyses will assess self-regulation as a mediator of parenting quality and obesity.

Text2BHealthy: Text-based Obesity Intervention Program

Presented by: Lauren Messina, Katherine Speirs, Stephanie Grutzmacher

The use of text messages in health intervention programs is an innovative approach to influencing behavior. This presentation describes the design and evaluation of a text message-based obesity intervention targeting low-income parents of elementary school aged children. Specifically, Text2BHealthy aims to increase physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption. The use of focus groups, pre-test and post-test surveys, a process evaluation, as well as a partner collaboration assessment will be discussed. Implications for using text message-based interventions to improve the health of low-income families are explored.

“Can I Do this?”--Losing Weight After Menopause

Presented by: Carol A. Darling, Catherine C. Coccia

Weight gain is a salient problem for women in midlife.  Using an ecosystemic approach, the primary aim of this study was to determine how family environmental factors, such as family life events and changes, number of children, and number of times married, are related to health stress, negative influence of daily hassles, and sense of coherence.  Path analyses indicated SOC had an inverse relationship between health stress and negative perceptions of daily hassles and a positive relationship with number of children at home and number of times married.  Results confirm the importance of maximizing family support when creating lifestyle changes.

Parenting, Psychosocial Development, and Dietary Restraint Among Emerging Adults

Presented by: Larry Forthun, David Diehl, Judith Fischer, Mckenzie Wilkes, Boyd Pidcock, Duane Dowd

The aim of this study is to understand the association between parental coercive control and dietary restraint among emerging adults. Participants included 1,645 emerging adult women (n=1,107) and men (n=538). Using maximum likelihood estimation, the SEM model evidenced good fit to the data. Results suggest that interventions that enhance effective emotion regulation and encourage personal identify development may lead to fewer concerns about weight and body shape and reduce the risk for dieting behaviors that may lead to disordered eating.