Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Sep 2016
From attitude to action: What shapes attitude toward walking to/from school and how does it influence actual behaviors?
Walking to/from school could promote children's physical activity and help combat childhood obesity. Parental attitudes have been identified as one of the important predictors. But it is unclear what factors shape parental attitudes, and how those in turn influence children's school travel. ⋯ Being Hispanic, increased car ownership, and stronger traffic safety concerns reduced enjoyment and increased attitudinal barriers, and thus decreased likelihood of walking to/from school. This study highlighted the importance of using multilevel interventions to reduce attitudinal barriers and increase enjoyment of walking to/from school. Collaborations among different stakeholders are needed to address environmental issues (e.g., safety concerns) and social factors (e.g., peer influence), while being sensitive to personal factors (e.g., age, ethnicity, and car ownership).
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To investigate the longitudinal associations between active commuting (walking and cycling to work) and body mass index (BMI). ⋯ This work provides further evidence of the contribution of active commuting, particularly cycling, to preventing weight gain or facilitating weight loss. The findings may be valuable for employees choosing how to commute and engaging employers in the promotion of active travel.
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Preventive medicine · Sep 2016
State of transition: Marijuana use among young adults in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California may vote on marijuana legalization in 2016. Young adults have the highest rates of marijuana use, but little is known about the correlates of use in this age group, including factors that may be affected by policy change. We investigated whether there are differences in marijuana use by sociodemographic characteristics, psychological distress, loneliness and social support, controlling for risk factors such as alcohol and cigarette use as well as perceived harm of marijuana. ⋯ Legalization policies should include public education campaigns addressing potential harms of marijuana use particularly targeting multiracial young adults who also engage in other risk behaviors, such as cigarette smoking and binge drinking.
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Preventive medicine · Sep 2016
Drunkenness and heavy drinking among 11year olds - Findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.
Heavy drinking among young people is linked to negative consequences including other risky behaviours, educational failure and premature mortality. There is a lack of research examining factors that influence heavy and binge drinking in early adolescence as prior work has focused on older teenagers. The objective of this paper was to identify individual and family factors associated with drunkenness and episodes of heavy drinking in early adolescence. ⋯ Associated with higher odds of drunkenness were: having friends who drank (OR=5.17); having positive expectancies towards alcohol (OR 2+=2.02); ever having smoked cigarettes (OR=5.32); the mother-child relationship not being close (OR=2.17). Associated with a reduced odds of drunkenness was having a heightened perception of harm from drinking 1-2 drinks daily (OR - some risk=0.48, great risk=0.40). Our findings support policies aimed at multiple levels, starting in the preadolescent years, which incorporate individual, family, and peer factors.
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Preventive medicine · Sep 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialPhysical activity outcomes in afterschool programs: A group randomized controlled trial.
Afterschool programs (ASPs) across the US are working towards achieving the standard of all children accumulating 30min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during program time. This study describes the two-year impact of an intervention designed to assist ASPs meeting the 30min/day MVPA standard. ⋯ STEPs can have an impact on children's MVPA and time spent sedentary, yet was unable to fully achieve the goal of all children accumulating 30minMVPA/day. Additional efforts are need to identify strategies ASPs can use to meet this important public health standard.