American Journal of Health Promotion

The study examines the relationship between children's television (TV) viewing and physical fitness.

Cross-sectional data from questionnaires and objective measures were analyzed.

Data were collected during the fall of 1990 from public elementary school students in a suburban California city.

Approximately 98% of eligible students participated. Of these, 10% were dropped due to missing data, yielding a final sample of 284 girls and 304 boys.

Children reported their amount of TV viewing on a typical summer day; parents reported their child's TV viewing on a typical weekday during the school year. Cardiovascular fitness was the 1-mile run/walk. Body fat was both the child's body mass index (BMI) and skinfolds. Additional measures included muscular strength/endurance and flexibility.

Mile run/walk times were associated with both parental (η² = . 051 and . 031 for boys and girls, respectively) and child reports (η² = . 020 and . 028) of the child's amount of TV viewing. Parental reports, but not child reports, of the child's TV viewing were related to BMI (η² = .041 and .058) and skinfolds (η² = .050 and .029). Neither measure of children's TV viewing was related to muscular strength/endurance or flexibility.

Children's TV viewing seems to be weakly and inconsistently related to various components of physical fitness. However, given the tracking of cardiovascular disease risk factors from childhood into adulthood and the high proportion of children who watch television, these relationships are worthy of further study.

To explore similar patterns of fruit and vegetable consumption between health center employees and their spouses.

Cross-sectional mailed survey assessing frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption, as well as demographics and knowledge, attitudes, access, and social support related to fruit and vegetable consumption.

Six Massachusetts health centers.

Two hundred eleven health center employee/spouse pairs (422 individuals).

The kappa statistic measured agreement in fruit and vegetable consumption between employees and spouses. The Spearman rho coefficient measured correlations for individual responses. Multiple Linear Regression Models examined variables that explained fruit and vegetable consumption level differences.

Response rate was 59%. Mean fruit and vegetable daily intake was 4.68 and 4.30 servings for employees and spouses, respectively. Over 75% of employee and spouse estimates measuring fruit and vegetable consumption-related information, on average, were within one survey response category of each other. Knowledge, attitudes, and access indices were significantly correlated with fruit and vegetable consumption for both employees and spouses. The social support index was significantly correlated with fruit and vegetable consumption only for the spouses. Differences in knowledge, attitudes, and access indices between employees and spouses helped to explain different fruit and vegetable consumption levels. Nonresponse, selection, recall, and seasonal reporting biases may limit the findings' generalizability.

The effectiveness of worksite nutrition interventions may be improved by involving family/household members.

To examine compliance with the guideline for dietary fat (i.e., 30% of total daily calories) and covariates of fat intake in a cohort of adults using both 24-hour recall and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).

Prospective, observational cohort study over 5 years.

Community-based sample in Reno, Nevada.

Equal numbers of male and female, lean and overweight adults (n = 508), recruited from 1985 to 1986, of whom 348 completed all relevant surveys.

Subjects underwent repeated anthropometric measures and completed extensive surveys on diet, weight cycling, lifestyle, and physical activity.

Mean fat intake by 24-hour recall declined from 36.9% to 33.6% of calories between years 1 and 5 (p < .001), while calorie intake increased (p = .2). As measured by FFQ at year 2, mean fat intake was 39.1 % of calories, and only 11.8% of subjects were in compliance with the guideline for dietary fat intake. Fat intake by FFQ at year 2 was statistically higher than by 24-hour recall in year 1 for lean women (p = .02) and lean men (p = .02), but not for the overweight of either gender, and was significantly higher than the year 5 24-hour recall for all categories of gender and weight (p < .001). Calorie intake, gender, and body mass index were significant in regression models that explained less than 10% of total variability in fat intake (r² = .08; p < .01).

Compliance with the nationally recommended level of dietary fat intake was poor in this cohort, especially as measured by FFQ. Variability in fat intake was largely unexplained by host characteristics, including education. Further study is required to corroborate secular trends in population fat intake, elucidate the determinants of such intake, and identify cost-effective strategies for reducing the consumption of dietary fat.

Project Salsa was a community-based effort seeking to promote health through nutritional behavior change in a Latino community of San Diego, California. The purpose of this article is to report on program factors related to long-term institutionalization of Project Salsa interventions.

Project Salsa was a demonstration rather than an experimental project. To ensure maximum sensitivity to the needs and values of the community, Project Salsa began with an extensive health needs assessment, including development of an advisory council, telephone survey, archival research, and key informant interviews.

Project Salsa interventions took place in San Ysidro, California, located near the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to Tijuana from 1987 to 1992.

The intervention community had 14,500 residents, of which nearly 83% were Latino.

Interventions included coronary heart disease risk factor screenings, meal preparation classes, newspaper columns, point-of-purchase education, school health and cafeteria programs, and breast-feeding promotion.

Institutionalization of intervention components.

Two of the interventions, the risk factor screenings and school health programs, are still in operation 4 years after the end of project funding.

Four factors common to institutionalized components are presented in the paper.