Publications by authors named "Kim Gans"

Early childhood education (ECE) settings are important for the development of children's healthy eating and physical activity behaviors. Efforts to disseminate and implement health behavior promotion strategies in ECE settings have seldom optimized digital health, a missed opportunity highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this commentary, we discuss previous efforts to shift ECE-based health behavior programs to digital health modalities, notable opportunities for digital health in these settings, and a multilevel perspective to support future efforts.

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Objective: Evaluate the usability and acceptability of a digital infant feeding module for use in a home visiting program.

Methods: Home visitors (n = 11) and mothers (n = 10) completed a qualitative interview while viewing a digital nutrition education module on infant feeding. Quantitative data were collected using the mHealth App Usability Questionnaire.

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Article Synopsis
  • Social isolation significantly affects homebound older adults, especially those receiving home-delivered meals.
  • A human-centered design approach was used to create training resources for meal-delivery drivers to enhance their interactions with clients.
  • A survey of 94 drivers showed a significant increase in their intention to engage in meaningful conversations with older adults, indicating the potential effectiveness of the training resources.
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Childhood eating behaviors are associated with weight status and laboratory assessments of dietary intake. However, little is known about how eating behaviors relate to the eating patterns and diet quality of children from marginalized populations when assessed in their natural environments. Therefore, we examined the association of food avoidant (e.

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Objective: To explore the goals, barriers, and facilitators set by caregivers of preschool-aged children to improve food parenting practices and household food environments.

Design: Secondary qualitative analysis of collaborative goal sheets completed during in-home and telephone visits as part of a home-based pilot intervention.

Participants: Thirty-three Hispanic/Latinx caregivers, predominantly of low income.

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Background: Owing to structural-level, interpersonal-level, and individual-level barriers, Latino men have disproportionately high rates of physical inactivity and experience related chronic diseases. Despite these disparities, few physical activity (PA) interventions are culturally targeted for Latino men.

Objective: This study reported the feasibility and acceptability of Hombres Saludables PA intervention for Latino men.

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Background: The food and beverages served in family childcare homes (FCCHs) may play an important role in the development of childhood overweight and obesity. This analysis examines whether children's diet quality mediates the relationship between foods and beverages served in FCCHs and preschool-aged children's weight status.

Methods: Trained and certified staff conducted observations for two days in each FCCH, using the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) measure to determine the foods and beverages served to children (N = 370) in FCCHs (N = 120).

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Background: About 59%-73% of Black women do not meet the recommended targets for physical activity (PA). PA is a key modifiable lifestyle factor that can help mitigate risk for chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension that disproportionately affect Black women. Web-based communities focused on PA have been emerging in recent years as web-based gathering spaces to provide support for PA in specific populations.

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Article Synopsis
  • The analysis investigates how the quality of food and drinks in family childcare homes (FCCHs) influences preschool children's weight status through their diet quality.
  • Trained staff observed and recorded food and beverage offerings in 120 FCCHs, assessing the intake of 370 children using guidelines like the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI) to evaluate diet quality and BMI measures.
  • Results showed that better food quality in FCCHs correlated with healthier diet scores, which in turn related to lower BMI z-scores, indicating that diet quality mediates the impact of food served on children's weight.
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Introduction: Early childcare has been identified as an influential setting for children's physical activity. Our objective was to determine whether children aged 2 to 5 years had more accelerometer-measured minutes of physical activity when caregivers in their family childcare home (FCCH) adhered to best practices for physical activity and screen time.

Methods: We analyzed baseline 2-day observation data collected by using the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation measure from a cluster-randomized trial.

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Article Synopsis
  • Home visitation programs can effectively address early childhood obesity through technology, as shown by the positive attitudes of staff towards its use.
  • Staff from the Florida program indicated they find videoconferencing a flexible and efficient method for home visits, suggesting improvements like shorter content and multilingual resources.
  • However, concerns about internet access and potential social disconnect were highlighted, pointing to areas for careful consideration in program implementation.
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Objective: To examine the relationship between the diet quality of children aged 2-5 years cared for in family child care homes (FCCHs) with provider adherence to nutrition best practices.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis.

Participants: Family child care home providers (n = 120, 100% female, 67.

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Objective: The socioemotional climate when feeding is a focus in childhood obesity prevention efforts. However, little is known about why caregivers create nonsupportive or supportive climates. This cross-sectional study used a Self-Determination Theory perspective to identify factors associated with the socioemotional climate when feeding in ethnically diverse families with low income.

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Objective: To describe the feasibility, acceptability and results of Strong Families Start at Home, a 6-month pilot trial of a home-based food parenting/nutrition intervention.

Design: Pilot randomised controlled trial.

Setting: Participants received six visits with a community health worker trained in motivational interviewing (three home visits, three phone calls); an in-home cooking or reading activity; personalised feedback on a recorded family meal or reading activity; text messages and tailored printed materials.

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Caffeine has beneficial effects on firefighter job performance reducing fatigue and improving psychomotor vigilance. However, excessive caffeine intake may raise blood pressure (BP) following a bout of acute exercise among adults with elevated BP. The influence of caffeine intake on the ambulatory BP (ABP) response to vigorous physical exertion among firefighters has not been studied.

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Comorbid psychiatric presentations, defined as those who present with more than one mental and/or behavioral health diagnosis at the same time, during adolescence are on the rise. Mindfulness-based interventions can alleviate psychological symptoms and improve emotion regulation in youth. Mindfulness is a multifaceted phenomenon, with five underlying facets (Observing, Describing, Acting with Awareness, Non-Judgment and Non-Reactivity of Inner Experience).

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Few studies have documented the food and physical activity (PA) environments of childcare settings caring for children <24 months of age, although they may be key contributors to developing child PA and diet patterns. We used an adapted Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation tool to assess the food and activity environments for infants and toddlers in childcare centers (n = 21) and family childcare homes (FCCH) (n = 20) and explored differences by childcare type. Many similarities were found between childcare site types; however, centers used more recommended feeding practices than FCCH (e.

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Background: Latinas are at increased risk for many lifestyle-related chronic diseases and are one of the least physically active populations in the US Innovative strategies are needed to help Latinas achieve the health benefits associated with physical activity (PA). This manuscript describes the study protocol of the Pasos Hacia La Salud II Study, which builds upon our previous research to test an enhanced individually-tailored, text-message and website-delivered, Spanish-language intervention (enhanced intervention), in comparison to the original web-based Pasos Hacia La Salud Intervention (original intervention).

Methods: Sedentary Latinas between the ages of 18-65 will be recruited and will complete an orientation and baseline assessments.

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Background: Childcare settings are important environments for influencing child eating and physical activity (PA). Family childcare homes (FCCH) care for many children of low-income and diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds who are at greater risk for poor diet quality, low PA, and obesity, but few interventions have targeted this setting. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a multicomponent intervention conducted in FCCH on the diet quality and PA of 2-5 year old children in their care.

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Unlabelled: Adolescents may be more vulnerable to COVID-19-related impacts and require long-term mental health care. Services that bolster emotion regulation, such as mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) promote positive impacts on psychosocial outcomes and have high acceptability. No studies have assessed feasibility, treatment perceptions and satisfaction of online MBIs with adolescents.

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The USDA summer food programs provide meals for children when school is not in session. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges for food distribution programs, many regulations have been waived, providing opportunities for new approaches to meal distribution. The aim of this study was to identify practices designed to increase program participation during the summer of 2021.

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Few childhood obesity prevention interventions have focused exclusively on fathers, particularly in low-income families. The objectives of this study were to determine feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a father-focused childhood obesity prevention program for low-income families with preschool children (ages 3-5 years old). Father-child pairs ( = 45) enrolled in a community-based intervention in a Northeastern US state and were assigned within groups to intervention ( = 31) or a delayed comparison group ( = 14).

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Food insecurity is associated with negative food parenting practices that may promote child obesity, including pressure to eat and food restriction. Less is known about the relationship between food insecurity and positive food parenting practices, including exposing the child to new foods and involving the child in food preparation. Further, few studies have investigated the associations between food insecurity and child eating behaviors that have been linked to poor dietary outcomes.

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Child care settings significantly influence children's physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) behaviors, yet less research has been conducted in family child care homes (FCCHs) than in child care centers. While a few studies have measured family child care providers' (FCCPs') PA practices, none have used observation to assess which specific evidence-based, best practice guidelines FCCPs met or did not meet, and no previous studies have included Latinx providers. This article examines FCCPs' adherence to PA and ST best practice guidelines using primarily observational methods with diverse FCCPs (including Latinx).

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Objective: The aim of the study is to examine family childcare providers' (FCCPs) attitudes and perceived barriers related to nutrition, physical activity (PA), and screen time (ST) behaviors of preschool children, exploring differences by provider ethnicity.

Design: Baseline survey data from a cluster-randomized trial. .

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