Epidemiology & Biostatistics
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Item Investigating Neighborhood Walkability and its Association with Physical Activity Levels and Body Composition of a Sample of Maryland Adolescent Girls(2010) Jones, Lindsey Irene; Young, Deborah R; Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Recent ecologic studies have begun to focus on characteristics of the built environment that influence physical activity (PA). Specifically, neighborhood walkability is emerging as an important determinant of PA in adults. At this point in time, there is conflicting evidence on how neighborhood walkability influences the PA levels of adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between individual's neighborhood walk score and individual's body mass index, body fat percentage, weight status, PA levels and meeting PA guidelines in a sample of adolescent girls. Additional analysis investigated the correlation between two objective measures of neighborhood walkability. This analysis was unable to show an association between PA levels or body composition of adolescent girls from the TAAG Maryland field site. Neighborhood walkability as assessed by the website walkscore.com was positively correlated with a GIS derived walkability index (r=.63 p<.0001).Item Relationships between the Frequency of Family Meals, Overweight, Dietary Intake and TV Viewing Behaviors among White, Hispanic, and Black Maryland Adolescent Girls(2013) Siddiqui, Sheena Fatima; Saksvig, Brit I; Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Objective: Examine relationships between frequency of family meals (FFM) and overweight, dietary intake (DI) and TV viewing behaviors, and examine relationships by race/ethnicity among adolescent girls. Methods: Secondary analysis of TAAG 2 data was conducted. Participants categorized in two groups based on overweight status. Personal data, DI and TV viewing behaviors were collected. Multivariate logistic regression used to estimate parameters. Results: No association between FFM and overweight or between FFM and overweight by race/ethnicity; significant associations found in the relationships between FFM and specific DI and TV viewing behaviors; and effect modification plays role in the relationship between FFM and weekly breakfast intake only. Conclusion: Findings suggest that additional research is needed to establish if FFM has an effect on overweight, families who have ≥three FM may promote positive DI behaviors and watch less TV, and more studies exploring the racial/ethnic differences in FFM and DI behaviors relationship are needed.