Regular physical activity and balanced nutrition are important in maintaining a healthy weight. Nonetheless, minority populations, like Hispanics, face challenges (e.g., language barriers and transportation unavailability) that limit their participation in intervention programs to receive benefits. Furthermore, dog companionship has been shown to…

The association of overweight/obesity, and central obesity with thiocyanate (SCN), perchlorate (CIO), and nitrate (NO) in childhood and adolescence is unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to explore this association in 4447 participants comprising children and adolescents (aged 6-19 years) using data from the United States National Health and…

Using the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (weighted population size = 35,460,209; 8-18 years old; 52.1% males), we compared the obesity prevalence in children and adolescents between body mass index-based (BMI-based) and total percent body fat-based (BF%-based, measured by the dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) cutoffs.…

This study examined the relationship between cigarette smoking and body perception across measured body weight among adolescents aged 12-19 years, using 2005-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. Adjustment showed that normal weight girls who perceived themselves as overweight had a significantly higher smoking prevalence…

Background: School environments are important to consider for children's health. This study aims to determine if childhood peer bullying and school connectedness are associated with adolescent adiposity. Methods: A total of 3377 children from the age 9 child interview of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study had self-reported bullying and…

A growing body of literature suggests that youth with severe obesity are engaging in substance use. The purpose of the present study was to examine profiles of substance use among adolescents with severe obesity and examine how these profiles are associated with depressive symptomology using data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.…

Introduction: The aims of this study were to examine cross-sectional, and longitudinal association of different measures of obesity and physical fitness with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in adolescents with Down syndrome. Methods: Longitudinal analysis included 90 adolescents with Down syndrome. Obesity and physical fitness were…

Previous studies have suggested the impact of intervention fidelity on the management and prevention of chronic diseases; however, little is known about the effect of the contributing determinants (at multiple levels of influence) that can impact health-related interventions intending to improve the health status of Hispanic adolescents with…

Stigmatization of overweight and obese individuals is common in interpersonal relationships. This study investigated longitudinal weight change patterns among Taiwanese adolescents and the relationship of weight change patterns with delayed romantic experience from late adolescence to young adulthood by using a representative panel survey.…

Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at an increased risk for developing obesity when compared to their typically developing peers. Given higher prevalence of obesity in youth with ASD, understanding factors relating to success in obesity treatment provides insight into implementing efficacious treatments for youth. The current study…

This study examined mediating effects of body weight control behaviors in the relationship between body weight perception and health-related behaviors among 11,458 U.S. adolescents from the 2010 National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey. Parallel multiple mediation analysis was performed for the secondary data analysis. Nearly one…

Atypical eating behaviors displayed by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) predispose them to unhealthy weight gain. We determined the factors associated with body weight status among 261 children with ASD (3-18 years) at nine autism intervention centers. Their mothers completed a self-administered questionnaire on sociodemographic…

We analyze adolescent BMI and middle-age systolic blood pressure (SBP) repeatedly measured on women enrolled in the Fels longitudinal study (FLS) between 1929 and 2010 to address three questions: Do adolescent-specific growth rates in BMI and menarche affect middle-age SBP? Do they moderate the aging effect on middle-age SBP? Have the effects…

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to identify the contribution of nutrition, physical activity (PA), and total energy intake and expenditure on body weight and composition in adolescents. Methods: Body composition, PA, and dietary intakes from 904 Greek adolescents (446 boys and 458 girls; Age: 14.6 ± 1.5 yrs), were evaluated. All…

Identification of cardiometabolic risk (CMR) in U.S. younger population by assessing muscular strength via handgrip (HG) dynamometry may aid in prevention efforts. Currently, no nationally representative HG cut-points are available for identifying increased CMR in U.S. adolescents or young adults. In this study, we propose normalized grip strength…