The adolescent obesity epidemic: why, how long, and what to do about it.

The epidemic of obesity among adolescents is a serious public health concern. If the epidemic is not reversed, millions of youth will be affected, and the nation will be left to face the staggering health and economic consequences of obesity. The burden of obesity is disproportionately borne by nonwhite and low-income youth and by people in the rural, Southern regions of the United States.

Parents with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse conditions involved in Child Protection Services: clinical profile and treatment needs.

This article reports findings of an exploratory study of 71 parents with substance abuse conditions involved in a child dependency court. Over half (59%) of the parents had a co-occurring mental health condition. Parents with co-occurring conditions (PWCC) differed in several important ways from those with only substance abuse conditions.

Does television viewing predict dietary intake five years later in high school students and young adults?

Background: Prior research has found that television viewing is associated with poor diet quality, though little is known about its long-term impact on diet, particularly during adolescence. This study examined the associations between television viewing behavior with dietary intake five years later.

Methods: Survey data, which included television viewing time and food frequency questionnaires, were analyzed for 564 middle school students (younger cohort) and 1366 high school students (older cohort) who had complete data available at Time 1 (1998-1999) and five years later at Time 2 (mean age at Time 2, 17.

Fast food intake among adolescents: secular and longitudinal trends from 1999 to 2004.

Objectives: To examine secular and longitudinal changes (1999-2004) in fast food intake among adolescents.

Methods: Adolescents from Minnesota participating in Project EAT (n=2516) were surveyed in 1999 and 2004. Mixed-model regressions were used to assess secular and longitudinal changes in percentage reporting frequent fast food intake (> or =3 times/week) and weekly fast food intake.

Characteristics and dietary patterns of adolescents who value eating locally grown, organic, nongenetically engineered, and nonprocessed food.

Objective: To examine characteristics of adolescents who value eating locally grown, organic, nongenetically engineered, and/or nonprocessed food and whether they are more likely than their peers to meet Healthy People 2010 dietary objectives.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis using data from a population-based study in Minnesota (Project EAT: Eating Among Teens).

Setting: Participants completed a mailed survey and food frequency questionnaire in 2004.

Socio-environmental, personal and behavioural predictors of fast-food intake among adolescents.

Objective: To identify the socio-environmental, personal and behavioural factors that are longitudinally predictive of changes in adolescents' fast-food intake.

Design: Population-based longitudinal cohort study.

Setting: Participants from Minnesota schools completed in-class assessments in 1999 (Time 1) while in middle school and mailed surveys in 2004 (Time 2) while in high school.

Making time for meals: meal structure and associations with dietary intake in young adults.

Background: Prior studies have found that family meals and other aspects of meal structure are associated with dietary intake during adolescence, but little research has characterized meals in young adulthood.

Objective: This study was designed to describe attitudes regarding the social nature of meals, time constraints on meals, and meal regularity in young adults. In addition, this study aimed to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of young adults who report eating dinner with others and "eating on the run," and examine associations of these behaviors with meal attitudes and dietary intake.

Neighborhood environments: disparities in access to healthy foods in the U.S.

Background: Poor dietary patterns and obesity, established risk factors for chronic disease, have been linked to neighborhood deprivation, neighborhood minority composition, and low area population density. Neighborhood differences in access to food may have an important influence on these relationships and health disparities in the U.S.

Factors associated with overweight among urban American Indian adolescents: findings from Project EAT.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of overweight in a sample of urban American Indian adolescents and identify associated behavioral, personal, and socioenvironmental factors.

Design And Participants: Participants were 246 American Indian boys and girls from the Saint Paul-Minneapolis metropolitan area of Minnesota who completed classroom surveys and anthropometric measurements as part of Project EAT (Eating Among Teens), a population-based study of adolescent nutrition and weight.

Measures: Survey items assessed behavioral factors (physical activity, television/video viewing, snacking and meal patterns, weight control behaviors), personal factors (body satisfaction, nutrition knowledge, nutrition/fitness attitudes, self-efficacy to make healthy food choices, perceived benefits/barriers to healthy eating), and socioenvironmental factors (family meal routines, family connectedness, parental attitudes regarding nutrition/fitness, availability of household foods, peer attitudes about weight and fitness).

Protease-activated receptor dependent and independent signaling by kallikreins 1 and 6 in CNS neuron and astroglial cell lines.

While protease-activated receptors (PARs) are known to mediate signaling events in CNS, contributing both to normal function and pathogenesis, the endogenous activators of CNS PARs are poorly characterized. In this study, we test the hypothesis that kallikreins (KLKs) represent an important pool of endogenous activators of CNS PARs. Specifically, KLK1 and KLK6 were examined for their ability to evoke intracellular Ca(2+) flux in a PAR-dependent fashion in NSC34 neurons and Neu7 astrocytes.

Evaluation of a 6-month multi-disciplinary healthy weight management program targeting urban, overweight adolescents: effects on physical fitness, physical activity, and blood lipid profiles.

This study evaluated preliminary physical fitness, physical activity, and blood lipid profile data obtained from overweight adolescents upon enrolling in a healthy weight management program and following 6 months of program participation. One hundred and sixty-eight participants (13.4+/-1.

Fast food intake: longitudinal trends during the transition to young adulthood and correlates of intake.

Purpose: Frequent fast food intake is associated with poorer diet quality and greater weight gain. The aims of this study were to describe changes in fast food intake during the transition from middle adolescence to young adulthood, and to identify baseline correlates of this eating behavior in early young adulthood.

Methods: Data were drawn from Project EAT, a population-based, longitudinal study in Minnesota.

Fruit and vegetable intake correlates during the transition to young adulthood.

Background: During the transition from adolescence to young adulthood, the intake of fruit and vegetables tends to decline, and national survey data indicate that few young adults consume the recommended amounts. This study aimed to identify longitudinal correlates of follow-up fruit and vegetable intake in early young adulthood.

Methods: Surveys and food frequency questionnaires were completed by 1495 adolescent participants in high school classrooms at baseline (in 1998-1999; mean age=15.

Family meals and disordered eating in adolescents: longitudinal findings from project EAT.

Objective: To examine 5-year longitudinal associations between family meal frequency and disordered eating behaviors in adolescents.

Design: Longitudinal study.

Setting: Participants from 31 Minnesota schools completed in-class assessments in 1999 (time 1) and mailed surveys in 2004 (time 2).

Activation of innate immunity in healthy Macaca mulatta macaques by a single subcutaneous dose of GMP CpG 7909: safety data and interferon-inducible protein-10 kinetics for humans and macaques.

Following a demonstration that mouse-optimized cytosine-guanosine dinucleotide (CpG) oligodeoxynucleotides stimulated innate immune protection against intracellular pathogens, we tested the ability of CpG 7909, a primate-optimized Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, to stimulate rhesus macaques to produce interferon-inducible protein-10 (IP-10), a biomarker of immune activation. This study was performed prior to a similar trial with humans in order to facilitate the development of CpG 7909 as an immunomodulator for biodefense. A single subcutaneous dose of clinical-grade CpG 7909 was given to four groups of healthy adult rhesus macaques (0-mg dose [n = 5], 0.

Family meals during adolescence are associated with higher diet quality and healthful meal patterns during young adulthood.

Background: Cross-sectional research in adolescents has found that eating family meals is associated with better nutritional intake.

Objective: To describe meal patterns of young adults and determine if family meal frequency during adolescence is associated with diet quality, meal frequency, social eating, and meal structure during young adulthood.

Design: Population-based, 5-year longitudinal study in Minnesota.

Are diet and physical activity patterns related to cigarette smoking in adolescents? Findings from Project EAT.

Introduction: An inadequate diet and physical inactivity may compound the many deleterious effects of smoking on health. Some research indicates that smoking behavior is related to other health behaviors, but little research has examined how smoking may be related to dietary intake of key nutrients, consumption of fast food, sedentary lifestyle, or weight status. The purpose of this study was to describe smoking frequency among adolescents and its relationship to physical activity and dietary patterns.

Intensive insulin protocol improves glucose control and is associated with a reduction in intensive care unit mortality.

Background: Intensive insulin therapy to maintain serum glucose levels between 80 and 110 mg/dL has previously been shown to reduce mortality in the critically ill; recent data, however, have called this benefit into question. In addition, maintaining uniform, tight glucose control is challenging and resource demanding. We hypothesized that, by use of a protocol, tight glucose control could be achieved in the surgical trauma intensive care unit (STICU), and that improved glucose control would be beneficial.

Parental eating behaviours, home food environment and adolescent intakes of fruits, vegetables and dairy foods: longitudinal findings from Project EAT.

Objective: To examine longitudinal associations of parental report of household food availability and parent intakes of fruits, vegetables and dairy foods with adolescent intakes of the same foods. This study expands upon the limited research of longitudinal studies examining the role of parents and household food availability in adolescent dietary intakes.

Design: Longitudinal study.

Trends in adolescent fruit and vegetable consumption, 1999-2004: project EAT.

Background: Diets abundant in fruits and vegetables are associated with reduced risk for chronic disease, but intakes of adolescents are often inadequate. To design effective interventions it is important to understand how dietary intake changes longitudinally during adolescence and to monitor progress in the population toward fruit and vegetable consumption recommendations. The objective of this study was to examine longitudinal and secular trends in fruit and vegetable intake among two cohorts of Minnesota adolescents over the period 1999-2004.

Food preparation by young adults is associated with better diet quality.

Objective: To describe food-preparation behaviors, cooking skills, resources for preparing food, and associations with diet quality among young adults.

Design: Cross-sectional analyses were performed in a sample of young adults who responded to the second wave of a population-based longitudinal study. Measures pertaining to food preparation were self-reported and dietary intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire, both by a mailed survey.