A psychosocial approach to smoking prevention for urban black youth. Motivational Interviewing as an intervention to increase adolescent self-efficacy and promote weight loss: Methodology and design A prospective study of parentally bereaved youth, caregiver depression, and body mass index. Influence of physical training on plasma leptin in obese youths. Psychological and behavioral risk factors for obesity onset in adolescent girls: a prospective study. Overweight and obesity prevention for adolescents: a cluster randomized controlled trial in a school setting. School-based health center-based treatment for obese adolescents: feasibility and body mass index effects. Overweight and Obesity as Predictors of Absenteeism in the Working Population of the Netherlands
Despite the high rates of smoking-related cancers among black Americans , little is known about the type of smoking prevention program that might be effective with black youth . The current study pilot-tested a promising smoking prevention approach to determine its feasibility , acceptability , and effectiveness .  A total of 608 students in nine predominantly black urban junior high schools were stratified by community and r and omly assigned to treatment and control conditions . Students in the treatment condition participated in a 12-session smoking prevention program which taught resistance skills and general life skills . Process data indicated that this prevention approach was feasible and acceptable to students , teachers , and administrators . Outcome data indicated that this program reduced the proportion of children who smoked in the past month by 56 percent , and it increased knowledge of the adverse consequences of smoking and normative expectations concerning adult and peer smoking . These results are discussed in terms of their implication s for prevention and modifications which might further strengthen the efficacy of this approach for urban black adolescents Background Childhood obesity is associated with serious physiological and psychological consequences including type 2 diabetes , higher rates of depression and low self-esteem . With the population of overweight and obese youth increasing , appropriate interventions are needed that speak to the issue of readiness to change and motivation to maintain adherence to healthy behavior changes . Motivational Interviewing ( MI ) is a method of therapy found to resolve ambivalence , enhance intrinsic motivation and promote confidence in a person 's ability to make behavior changes . While MI has shown promise in the adult obesity literature as effecting positive lifestyle change , little is known about the effectiveness of MI with overweight and obese youth . This study aims to : 1 ) demonstrate that MI is an effective intervention for increasing a person 's self-efficacy ; 2 ) demonstrate that exposure to MI will facilitate healthy behavior changes ; 3 ) explore psychological changes related to participation in MI and 4 ) compare physiological and anthropometric outcomes before and after intervention . Methods / Design The current investigation is a prospect i ve study conducted with ongoing participants who regularly attend an outpatient pediatric care center for weight-loss . Overweight youth ( BMI > 85th % ile ) between the ages of 10 and 18 who meet eligibility criteria will be recruited . Participants will be r and omly assigned to a control group ( social skills training ) or a treatment group ( MI ) . Participants will meet with the therapist for approximately 30 minutes prior to seeing the dietician , over the course of 6 months . Participants will also undergo a full day assessment at the beginning and end of psychology intervention to evaluate body fat , and metabolic risk ( screening for diabetes , high cholesterol , high blood pressure and fitness level ) . The paper and pencil portions of the assessment s as well as the clinical testing will occur at baseline and at the conclusion of the intervention ( 6 months ) with a repeat assessment 6 months following the completion of the intervention . Discussion Results from this study are expected to enhance our underst and ing of the efficacy of  MI with children and adolescents who are overweight or obese . Trial registration Current Controlled Trials # NCT00326404 OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between body mass index ( BMI ) in bereaved youth and nonbereaved controls 5 years after a parent 's death . The study was conducted from August 9 , 2002 , through December 31 , 2013 . DESIGN A prospect i ve , longitudinal , controlled study of the effects of sudden parental death on youth . SETTING Bereaved families were recruited through coroner records and by advertisement .  Nonbereaved families were recruited using r and om-digit dialing and by advertisement . PARTICIPANTS 123 parentally bereaved offspring were compared with 122 nonbereaved control offspring , all of whom were aged 11 - 25 years at the 5-year assessment . MAIN EXPOSURE Bereavement status , type of parental death ( accident , suicide , or sudden natural death ) , and history of depression in caregivers prior to parental death . OUTCOME MEASURES BMI categories ( normal , overweight , and obese ) , according to International Obesity Task Force guidelines for adults and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for children , and DSM-IV psychiatric disorder in offspring and caregivers before and after time of parental death . RESULTS Bereaved offspring were more likely to have a BMI in the obese range compared to nonbereaved controls ( χ2(2 ) = 7.13 , P < .01 ) . There were no differences in BMI category by death type among bereaved offspring . Caregiver history of depression was a significant correlate of offspring obesity in nonbereaved youth but had a protective effect on the BMI of bereaved youth . CONCLUSIONS Bereaved youth were more likely to be obese than nonbereaved youth 5 years after parental death , and caregiver history of depression was associated with increased risk for obesity in nonbereaved youth only . Future studies are necessary to identify mechanisms that increase risk for obesity in parentally bereaved youth Little is known about the effects of different intensities of physical training on plasma leptin . This study examined the effect of two intensities of physical training on leptin in obese teenagers , and explored correlates at baseline and in response to 8 months of physical training . The participants were 55 obese youths 12 - 16 years of age who completed both baseline and posttesting . The youths were r and omized to engage in lifestyle education only ( LSE ) , moderate-intensity physical training and LSE , or high-intensity physical training and LSE .  Baseline leptin was positively associated with fat mass . Girls had higher leptin levels at lower levels of fasting insulin than boys . The 8-mo physical training doses prescribed to obese teenagers did not result in significant group differences in mean change in leptin , although there was large variability in individual response . The change in leptin was inversely associated with baseline leptin and change in cardiovascular fitness . Diet , physical activity level , visceral adiposity , and glucose concentrations were not associated with leptin , neither at baseline nor in response to physical training . At baseline , total fat mass rather than visceral adiposity was associated with higher leptin levels . Over the 8-mo intervention period , regardless of group membership , youths who had the lowest increase in cardiovascular fitness tended to have the highest increase in leptin Because little is known about risk factors for obesity , the authors tested whether certain psychological and behavioral variables predicted future onset of obesity . The authors used data from a prospect i ve study of 496 adolescent girls who completed a baseline assessment at age 11 - 15 years and 4 annual follow-ups .  Self-reported dietary restraint , radical weight-control behaviors , depressive symptoms , and perceived parental obesity -- but not high-fat food consumption , binge eating , or exercise frequency-predicted obesity onset . Results provide support for certain etiologic theories of obesity , including the affect regulation model . The fact that self-reported , weight-control behaviors  identified girls at risk for obesity implies that high-risk youths are not engaging in effective weight-control methods and suggests the need to promote more effective strategies BACKGROUND Given the increasing prevalence of obesity among youth over the past decade , prevention has become an international public health priority . PURPOSE To evaluate the 2-year effectiveness of three strategies aim ed at preventing overweight and obesity among adolescents in a high school setting . DESIGN PRomotion de l'ALIMentation et de l'Activité Physique ( PRALIMAP ) is a school-based RCT . Each study high school was assigned to receive or not , over a 2-year period ( Grade s 10 and 11 ) , each of three prevention strategies according to a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial school r and omization . Data were collected in 2006 - 2009 and analyzed in 2009 - 2011 . SETTING / PARTICIPANTS A total of 3538 adolescents ( aged 15.6±0.7 years at baseline ) in 24 public high schools in Lorraine ( northeastern France ) completed the PRALIMAP trial . INTERVENTIONS The prevention strategies were education ( development of nutritional knowledge and skills ) ; environment ( creation of a favorable environment by improving availability of " healthy " dietary items and physical activity ) ; and screening and care ( detection of overweight/obesity and , if necessary , adapted care management ) . MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES The main outcome of interest was BMI ; BMI z-score and prevalence of overweight/obesity were considered as secondary outcomes . RESULTS Adolescents who completed the PRALIMAP trial were younger , less often suspected of having eating  disorders and depression , and came from a higher socioeconomic class than those who did not . The 2-year change of outcomes was more favorable in the 12 screening and care high schools compared to the no-screening ones : a 0.11 lower increase in BMI ( p=0.0303 ) ; a 0.04 greater decrease in BMI z-score ( p=0.0173 ) ; and a 1.71 % greater decrease in overweight/obesity prevalence ( p=0.0386 ) . Education and environment strategies were not more effective than no strategy intervention . CONCLUSIONS Although the screening and care strategy is an effective way to prevent , at 2 years , overweight and obesity among adolescents in a high school setting , its effects over and above no strategy intervention were small . TRIAL REGISTRATION This study is registered at www . clinical trials.govNCT00814554 BACKGROUND School-based health centers ( SBHCs ) may be an ideal setting to address obesity in adolescents because they provide increased access to a traditionally difficult-to-reach population . The study evaluated the feasibility of adding a health educator ( HE ) to SBHC teams to provide support and increase the delivery of preventive services for overweight or obese adolescents . METHODS Adolescents with BMI ≥85 % recruited from two SBHCs were r and omized to a control group ( CG ) or an  intervention group ( IG ) . Both groups received preventive services , including physical examinations and laboratory screening in the SBHC . The educator met with the IG during the academic year , utilizing motivational interviewing techniques to set lifestyle goals . Text messaging was used to reinforce goals between visits . RESULTS Eighty-two students ( 15.7±1.5 years of age ; BMI , 31.9±6.2 kg/m(2 ) ) were enrolled in the IG and 83 in the control group ( 16.0±1.5 years of age ; BMI , 31.6±6.5 kg/m(2 ) ) . Retention was 94 % in the IG and 87 % in the CG . A total of 54.5 % of the IG and 72.2 % of the CG decreased or maintained BMI z-score ( less than 0.05 increase ; p=0.025 ) . Sports participation was higher in the CG ( 47 % vs. 28 % in the IG ; p=0.02 ) . Mean BMI z-score change was -0.05±0.2 for students participating in sports vs. 0.01±0.2 for those not ( p=0.09 ) . CONCLUSIONS This SBHC intervention showed successful recruitment and retention of participants and delivery of preventive services in both groups . Meeting with an HE did not improve BMI outcomes in the IG . Confounding factors , including sports participation and SBHC utilization , likely contributed to BMI outcomes Objective : To determine the relation between body mass index ( BMI ) and  absenteeism . Methods : Data were collected in a prospect i ve cohort study ( n = 1284 ) . Multilevel analyses ( linear mixed model with r and om intercept ) with two levels ( employee and company ) were used to test whether BMI was related to duration and frequency of absenteeism and whether this relation was influenced by sports participation . Results : Obese employees were absent 14 days a year more than normal-weight employees . Also the frequency of absenteeism of more than 7 days was significantly higher . The differences in absenteeism between obese and normal-weight employees were larger for employees who did not practice sport regularly . Conclusions : Obese employees are more often absent and are absent longer , especially when they do not practice sport regularly . An active company policy to prevent obesity is needed , both from a health and a business efficiency perspective
It is unclear from these results whether sports programs , as currently offered , protect youth from becoming overweight or obese .
Sport is a promising setting for obesity prevention among youth , but little is known about whether it prevents obesity .