The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is an epidemiologic surveillance system that was established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help monitor the prevalence of behaviors that not only influence youth health but also put youth at risk for the most significant health and social problems that can occur during…

Reading nutrition facts labels is a competency for which training is given in several nutrition education programs, especially in obesity outreach workshops. The Top Trumps-style card game is commonly used in obesity prevention educational programs to engage participants in reading nutrition facts labels; however, the success of TV cooking shows…

Background: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are less physically active than the general population, but limited data on objective physical activity patterns in adults with DS are available. Methods: Free-living physical activity was measured by waist-worn accelerometry in adults with DS from 2018 to 2020. Data were analysed using descriptive…

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between sleep duration, overweight/obesity, and school failure using data obtained from self-reported questionnaires completed by 13- to 15-year-olds in Sweden (n = 1,363; 50.7% female). The height and weight of the participants were measured by school nurses. A multiple logistic regression…

In the dissertation, I attempt to show how and why students' cultural knowledge and body shape are intertwined, which serve as an underlying mechanism of social and cultural reproduction in childhood. The dissertation consists of two main topics. For the first topic (second chapter), I investigate whether cultural capital matters for childhood…

Purpose: Over the last couple of decades, health has become a central part of the subject content in physical education (PE) curricula in many countries. As a result, issues of health have been foregrounded much more clearly in the teaching of PE. The aim of this study was to explore how Swedish PE teachers make sense of health in relation to…

Conventional teaching about obesity, especially within a physiology-based course, tends to focus on the biological aspects. Unfortunately, framing obesity from a solely biological perspective ignores many factors that contribute to the condition, leaving students with an overly simplistic idea. We developed an introductory exercise physiology…

Background: School age children are expected to have a normal body mass index which is commensurate with their age group. The prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight is increasing in alarming rates in developing countries, with the highest rate in the Middle East region. School nurses' involvement in childhood obesity prevention practices…

The high level of consumption of processed foods has an effect on human health. The consumption of doughnuts, pastries, fried chicken, French fried potatoes, snack chips, and imitation cheese is high among teenagers. These foods are generally rich in fats, although the focus has often been on the quantity rather than the quality of these fats.…

Objective: Assess physical activity (PA) and nutrition recommendation knowledge in college students. Participants: 71 students (n = 41 females; 18 to 22 years) measured in May of 2014. METHODS: Knowledge of existence and accuracy of PA and nutrition recommendations were assessed via a verbal survey. Results: Most (67.6%) were aware PA…

Background: School-based programs are widely implemented to address childhood obesity. Despite the promise of these programs, evidence on their effectiveness is mixed. Adopting a dissemination and implementation (D&I) science focus utilizing mixed methods can provide a broader understanding and more robust details about these programs. The…

Objective: Over one-third of college students are overweight or obese and rates are rising. Whole body vibration (WBV) training could prevent weight gain but has not been tested in college students. Methods: Randomized controlled trial comparing thrice weekly WBV for 6 months to controls (CON) in undergraduate students. Feasibility included…

The objective of this study was to provide initial validity evidence for responses to the newly expanded version of the I COPPE Actions scale from adults with obesity under an exploratory latent variable approach. Longitudinal data from the 2018 Fun For Wellness Effectiveness Trial (ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT03194854) were reanalyzed in…

This paper is about 'fat' kids in HPE classes. The motivation for this paper comes as a personal response to my reading of Roxane Gay's book "Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body." "Hunger" is thoughtful, passionate, articulate, sad and overall troubling. It also raised questions for me about whether health and physical education…

The purpose of this article is to examine the compelling evidence of childhood obesity across the world and within the United States and the major contributors to this health crisis. Factors contributing to the obesity health crisis and potential interventions are given a preliminary analysis within related research literature.