Impact of child summertime obesity interventions on body mass index and weight-related behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Obesity during childhood is a critical public health issue. The summer break from school is a time when children are prone to accelerated weight gain. We aimed to investigate how obesity prevention or treatment programs implemented over the summer affect anthropometric measures or weight-related behaviors.

Examination of parent-reported differences in children's daily screen use, sleep, and sleep hygiene behaviors during the school year and summer and their association with BMI.

Objective: The current study examined school-summer differences in children's sleep patterns and sleep hygiene. Cross-sectional relationships with children's sleep, sleep hygiene, and weight status were explored during the school year and summer.

Methods: Children (5-8 years) and their parents (n = 197 dyads) were recruited from 4 schools in southeastern Texas and via Facebook.

Seasonality of Children's Height and Weight and Their Contribution to Accelerated Summer Weight Gain.

While children have been shown to have increased BMI during the summer compared to the school year, it is not known if this may be due to seasonal variations in height or weight separately. Trained nurses measured heights (cm) and weights (kg) in a cohort of Kindergarteners ( = 7648) twice per year from the beginning of kindergarten through 5th grade. Variation in height and weight by season (school year .

Evaluation of a Circadian Rhythm and Sleep-Focused Mobile Health Intervention for the Prevention of Accelerated Summer Weight Gain Among Elementary School-Age Children: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study.

Background: The i♥rhythm project is a mobile health adaptation of interpersonal and social rhythm therapy designed to promote healthy sleep and behavioral rhythms among 5-8-year olds during summer for the prevention of accelerated summer weight gain.

Objective: This pilot study will examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the i♥rhythm intervention. This will ensure that the research protocol and procedures work as desired and are acceptable to families in preparation for the fully powered randomized controlled trial.

Estimating circadian phase in elementary school children: leveraging advances in physiologically informed models of circadian entrainment and wearable devices.

Study Objectives: Examine the ability of a physiologically based mathematical model of human circadian rhythms to predict circadian phase, as measured by salivary dim light melatonin onset (DLMO), in children compared to other proxy measurements of circadian phase (bedtime, sleep midpoint, and wake time).

Methods: As part of an ongoing clinical trial, a sample of 29 elementary school children (mean age: 7.4 ± .

Later sleep timing predicts accelerated summer weight gain among elementary school children: a prospective observational study.

Objectives And Background: Social demands of the school-year and summer environment may affect children's sleep patterns and circadian rhythms during these periods. The current study examined differences in children's sleep and circadian-related behaviors during the school-year and summer and explored the association between sleep and circadian parameters and change in body mass index (BMI) during these time periods.

Methods: This was a prospective observational study with 119 children ages 5 to 8 years with three sequential BMI assessments: early school-year (fall), late school-year (spring), and beginning of the following school-year in Houston, Texas, USA.

Videogames That Encourage Healthy Behavior Did Not Alter Fasting Insulin or Other Diabetes Risks in Children: Randomized Clinical Trial.

Previous research indicates games for health have substantial promise in promoting change in children's diet and physical activity (PA) behavior for obesity and diabetes prevention, but the research has generally not been rigorous. The study reported here was an efficacy trial of two role-playing videogames played in sequence, "Escape from Diab" (hereinafter called Diab) and "Nanoswarm: Invasion from Inner Space" (hereinafter called Nano), on diabetes and obesity risk factors: fasting insulin and body mass index (BMI), and risk-related behaviors: diet, PA, and sedentary behavior (SB). A two-group (treatment vs.

Dietary Assessment with a Wearable Camera among Children: Feasibility and Intercoder Reliability.

Background: The eButton, a multisensor device worn on the chest, uses a camera to passively capture images of everything in front of the child throughout the day. These images can be analyzed to provide a passive method of dietary intake assessment.

Objective: This study assessed the eButton's feasibility and intercoder reliability for dietary intake assessment.

Reliability and validity of food portion size estimation from images using manual flexible digital virtual meshes.

Objective: The eButton takes frontal images at 4s intervals throughout the day. A three-dimensional manually administered wire mesh procedure has been developed to quantify portion sizes from the two-dimensional images. The present paper reports a test of the inter-rater reliability and validity of use of the wire mesh procedure.

Participant Outcomes from Methods of Recruitment for Videogame Research.

Objective: The most productive methods of recruitment for a videogame for health (G4H) trial are not known. Success or failure of recruitment methods has been reported for a variety of clinical trials, but few specifically for G4H trials. This study's goal was to recruit 444 overweight or obese (body mass index percentile between the 84.

Mommio's Recipe Box: Assessment of the Cooking Habits of Mothers of Preschoolers and Their Perceptions of Recipes for a Video Game.

Background: Vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet because they help prevent several chronic diseases. Mothers of preschoolers reported difficulty getting their young children to eat vegetables, and many did not know how to cook child-pleasing recipes.

Objective: The cooking habits of mothers of preschoolers, their perceptions of recipes designed for their children, and the involvement of their children in food preparation were assessed to inform a food parenting video game called Mommio.

The Narrative Impact of Active Video Games on Physical Activity Among Children: A Feasibility Study.

Background: Active video games (AVGs) capable of inducing physical activity offer an innovative approach to combating childhood obesity. Unfortunately, children's AVG game play decreases quickly, underscoring the need to identify novel methods for player engagement. Narratives have been demonstrated to influence behaviors.

Assessing Feedback in a Mobile Videogame.

Background: Player feedback is an important part of serious games, although there is no consensus regarding its delivery or optimal content. "Mommio" is a serious game designed to help mothers motivate their preschoolers to eat vegetables. The purpose of this study was to assess optimal format and content of player feedback for use in "Mommio.

Training Vegetable Parenting Practices Through a Mobile Game: Iterative Qualitative Alpha Test.

Background: Vegetable consumption protects against chronic diseases, but many young children do not eat vegetables. One quest within the mobile application Mommio was developed to train mothers of preschoolers in effective vegetable parenting practices, or ways to approach getting their child to eat and enjoy vegetables. A much earlier version of the game, then called Kiddio, was alpha tested previously, but the game has since evolved in key ways.

The Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour Dietary Recall for Children, 2012 Version, for Youth Aged 9 to 11 Years: A Validation Study.

Background: Valid methods of diet assessment are important for nutrition research and practice, but can be difficult with children.

Objective: To validate the 2012 version of the Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour Dietary Recall for Children (ASA24-Kids-2012), a self-administered web-based 24-hour dietary recall (24hDR) instrument, among children aged 9 to 11 years, in two sites.

Design: Quasiexperimental.

Comparison of a Web-based versus traditional diet recall among children.

Self-administered instruments offer a low-cost diet assessment method for use in adult and pediatric populations. This study tested whether 8- to 13-year-old children could complete an early version of the Automated Self Administered 24-hour diet recall (ASA24) and how this compared to an interviewer-administered 24-hour diet recall. One-hundred twenty 8- to 13-year-old children were recruited in Houston from June through August 2009 and randomly assigned to complete either the ASA24 or an interviewer-administered 24-hour diet recall, followed by the other recall mode covering the same time interval.

Children's accuracy of portion size estimation using digital food images: effects of interface design and size of image on computer screen.

Objective: To test the effect of image size and presence of size cues on the accuracy of portion size estimation by children.

Design: Children were randomly assigned to seeing images with or without food size cues (utensils and checked tablecloth) and were presented with sixteen food models (foods commonly eaten by children) in varying portion sizes, one at a time. They estimated each food model's portion size by selecting a digital food image.

Tests of the accuracy and speed of categorizing foods into child vs professional categories using two methods of browsing with children.

This research tested whether children could categorize foods more accurately and speedily when presented with child-generated rather than professionally generated food categories, and whether a graphically appealing browse procedure similar to the Apple iTunes (Cupertino, CA) "cover flow" graphical user interface accomplished this better than the more common tree-view structure. In Fall 2008, 104 multiethnic children ages 8 to 13 were recruited at the Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX) and randomly assigned to two browse procedures: cover flow (collages of foods in a category) or tree view (food categories in a list). Within each browse condition children categorized the same randomly ordered 26 diverse foods to both child and professionally organized categories (with method randomly sequenced per child).