Covariates for physical activity, eating habits, stress, and stress management
SECONDARY
To measure physical activity, we used participants’ responses to whether they exercised for 30 min per day or 150 min per week, did strength training at least twice a week, and used a pedometer in the past month. This was a process measure to explain changes in the primary (systolic and diastolic BP) and secondary outcomes (BMI).We assessed eating habits through a self-report. Participants indicated whether, in a typical day, they ate five servings of vegetables, ate four servings of fruit, watched their portion size, and read the food labels. We also captured their emotional state upon eating (that is, if they ate when full, upset, or not hungry); the type of food consumed (fast foods, snacks, fried foods, or sweets); and beverage consumption (such as non-diet soda). We measured each of these items at baseline, 3 months, 9 months, and 15 months. This is also a process measure.We measured stress through the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) [