219970 Factors correlated with sedentary girls' body mass index

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 : 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM

Melodee Vanden Bosch, PhD-c, RN , College of Nursing, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Lorraine Robbins, PhD, RN, FNP-BC , College of Nursing, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Karin Pfeiffer, PhD , Department of Kinesiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Kimberly Maier, PhD , College of Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing
     
Background: A high prevalence of overweight and obesity is noted among young adolescent girls in the U.S., yet causes of the problem remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine if certain demographic, cognitive, behavioral, and biologic factors are correlated with body mass index (BMI) among 10- to 13-year-old sedentary girls enrolled in 5th- or 6th-grade in an urban school district.

Methods: A cross-sectional design with convenience sampling was used prior to the start of a school-based physical activity (PA) intervention (NHLBI R21 HL090705). Girls (n=74) completed paper-pencil surveys including items concerning race/ethnicity, hours of weekday computer use, and perceived importance of being someone 1) who plays sport or does PA and 2) who is good at sports or PA. Cardiovascular fitness levels were measured via the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test. Minutes of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) were measured using accelerometers in 50(67.6%) girls who did not differ from the remaining 24(32.4%).

Results: BMI (mean=23.4, range=13.9-49.1, S.D.=6.8) was positively correlated to mixed race/ethnicity (r= .233, p=.048) and negatively correlated to hours of weekday computer use (r= -.234, p=.048), perceived importance of being someone 1) who plays sports or does PA (r= -.254, p=.030), 2) who is good at sports or PA (r= -.307, p=.008), minutes of MVPA (r= -.372, p=.008), and number of PACER laps completed (r= -.378, p=.001).

Conclusion: The multi-factorial correlates of sedentary girls' BMI indicate that the issue of overweight/obesity may be best addressed by multi-component interventions.

Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Chronic disease management and prevention
Diversity and culture
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related nursing
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1.)Discuss the causes of overweight and obesity among middle school girls as reported in the literature. 2.)Explain the findings from an analysis of factors correlated with body mass index in 5th and 6th grade girls prior to a school-based PA intervention. 3.)Compare findings from this sample of sedentary girls to previously published conclusions regarding factors associated with body mass index.

Keywords: School-Based Programs, Child/Adolescent

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I have been actively involved as a doctoral student supervised by the principal investigators in assisting with data management and analyses of the study entitled “Middle School Physical Activity Intervention for Girls” from which the abstract information was obtained.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4122.0: Obesity prevention: Student abstract submissions