Dietary & Physical Activity Patterns of Latino Farmworker Children

描述(申请人提供)：超重和肥胖在农场工人儿童中很普遍，他们中的绝大多数是墨西哥血统的拉丁裔。不幸的是，很少有系统的研究集中在农场工人儿童中儿童超重的主要决定因素-体力活动和饮食-上。因此，为预防或治疗儿童超重和肥胖而在这一健康、不同和医疗服务不足的人群中建立文化和背景适当的干预战略的经验基础受到了损害。拉美裔农场工人儿童的身体活动和饮食模式从根本上说是一个工作和家庭问题。农场劳动的性质和农场工人的生活方式对儿童的健康生活方式习惯构成了重大障碍，这表现为一组儿童肥胖程度增加，这些儿童已经面临健康和发育结果不佳的风险。这一研究项目的目标是加强经验基础，在此基础上建立饮食和体力活动干预方案，以解决拉美裔年轻农场工人儿童的超重和肥胖问题。为了实现这一目标，我们建立在关注农场工人家庭健康的长期学术社区伙伴关系的基础上，以：1)记录农场工人家庭幼儿(3岁)的饮食和体力活动模式；2)确定促成顺从饮食和体力活动行为的儿童、家庭、社区和文化因素；以及3)确定改善拉美裔农场工人儿童饮食和体力活动模式的文化和背景适当的战略。拟议项目的具体目标将通过通过两个不同的项目组成部分进行的综合定性-定量研究设计来实现。定性项目的组成部分包括对农场工人子女的母亲(n=30)进行深入的个人访谈，以全面了解农场工人家庭对儿童体重和肥胖的看法，以及影响儿童饮食和体力活动模式的因素。本项目构成部分的结果将有助于确定影响儿童饮食和身体活动模式的具体因素，并将为第二个项目构成部分的内容提供信息。第二个项目部分涉及对农场工人子女的饮食和体力活动模式进行量化评估。将采用现场抽样战略招募具有代表性的3岁农场工人儿童及其母亲样本(n=250)，并在两年期间每三个月进行一次评估。数据收集包括24小时饮食回顾、使用加速计收集儿童体力活动的客观评估，以及母亲访谈。这一项目构成部分的结果将有力地描述儿童的饮食和身体活动行为。它们还将有助于干预措施的发展，特别是以高危儿童为目标，确定有效干预措施中需要解决的具体因素，并确定实施干预措施的理想时间段。公共卫生相关性：该项目侧重于年轻的拉丁裔农场工人儿童的饮食和体力活动模式。农场工人儿童是一个医疗服务不足和健康状况迥异的群体。该项目的成果将帮助卫生工作者更好地确定有多少农民工儿童超重或肥胖，以及如何设计干预计划，通过在生命早期促进健康饮食和身体习惯来减少这些儿童的超重和肥胖。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Overweight and obesity is prevalent among farmworker children, the vast majority of whom are Latino of Mexican descent. Unfortunately, there has been little systematic research focused on the primary determinants of childhood overweight - physical activity and diet - among farmworker children. The empirical foundation for building culturally and contextually appropriate intervention strategies for preventing or treating childhood overweight and obesity in this health disparate and medically underserved population is therefore compromised. The physical activity and dietary patterns of Latino farmworker children is fundamentally a work-family issue. The nature of farmwork and the farmworker lifestyle poses significant barriers to healthy lifestyle habits among children, and it manifests in elevated obesity in a group of children already at risk for poor health and developmental outcomes. The goal of this research project is to strengthen the empirical foundation upon which to build diet and physical activity intervention programs to address overweight and obesity among young Latino farmworker children. To achieve this goal, we build on a long-standing academic community partnership focused on farmworker family health to: 1) document the dietary and physical activity patterns of young (3 year-old) children of farmworker families; 2) determine the child, familial, community, and cultural factors that contribute to obesigenic dietary and physical activity behavior; and 3) identify culturally and contextually appropriate strategies for improving dietary and physical activity patterns of Latino farmworker children. The proposed project's specific aims will be accomplished using an integrated qualitative-quantitative study design that will occur through two distinct project components. The qualitative project component involves in- depth personal interviews with mothers of farmworker children (n=30) to develop a comprehensive understanding of the beliefs farmworker families have about children's weight and obesity, and the factors shaping children's diet and physical activity patterns. Results of this project component will be useful in identifying the concrete factors that shape children's eating and physical activity patterns, and they will inform the content of the second project component. The second project component involves quantitative assessment of farmworker children's dietary and physical activity patterns. A representative sample of 3 year- old farmworker children and their mothers (n=250) will be recruited using a site-based sampling strategy and assessed every three months over a two year period. Data collection includes 24-hour dietary recalls, use of accelerometers for collecting objective assessments of children's physical activity, and maternal interviews. The results of this project component will provide robust descriptions of children's dietary and physical activity behavior. They will also be useful for intervention development by targeting particularly at-risk children, identifying specific factors to be addressed in effective interventions, and discerning ideal time periods for implementing interventions. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The project focuses on the dietary and physical activity patterns of young Latino farmworker children. Farmworker children are a medically underserved and health disparate population. The results of this project will help health workers better determine how many farmworker children are overweight or obese, and how to design intervention programs that reduce overweight and obesity in these children by promoting healthy diet and physical habits early in life.