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Background: A regular yoga practice may have benefits for young adult health, however, there is limited evidence available to guide yoga interventions targeting weight-related health. The present study explored the relationship between participation in yoga, healthy eating behaviors and physical activity among young adults., Methods: The present mixed-methods study used data collected as part of wave 4 of Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults), a population-based cohort study in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Young adults (n = 1820) completed the Project EAT survey and a food frequency questionnaire, and a subset who reported practicing yoga additionally participated in semi-structured interviews (n = 46). Analyses of survey data were used to examine cross-sectional associations between the frequency of yoga practice, dietary behaviors (servings of fruits and vegetables (FV), sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and snack foods and frequency of fast food consumption), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Thematic analysis of interview discussions further explored yoga's perceived influence on eating and activity behaviors among interview participants., Results: Regular yoga practice was associated with more servings of FV, fewer servings of SSBs and snack foods, less frequent fast food consumption, and more hours of MVPA. Interviews revealed that yoga supported healthy eating through motivation to eat healthfully, greater mindfulness, management of emotional eating, more healthy food cravings, and the influence of the yoga community. Yoga supported physical activity through activity as part of yoga practice, motivation to do other forms of activity, increased capacity to be active, and by complementing an active lifestyle., Conclusions: Young adult yoga practitioners reported healthier eating behaviors and higher levels of physical activity than non-practitioners. Yoga should be investigated as an intervention for young adult health promotion and healthy weight management.

Purpose: To examine the influence of peers and the source of meals and snacks on the dietary quality of adolescents seeking obesity treatment., Methods: Baseline surveys were completed by 173 adolescents with overweight or obesity (11-16 years old) enrolled in an e-health intervention in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dietary quality was assessed with three 24-h dietary recalls used to compute a Healthy Eating Index adapted to the Canadian context (HEI-C). Multiple linear regression examined associations between HEI-C scores and the frequency of: (i) meals prepared away from home, (ii) purchasing snacks from vending machines or stores, (iii) eating out with friends, and (iv) peers modeling healthy eating., Results: Adolescents reported eating approximately 3 lunch or dinner meals prepared away from home and half purchased snacks from vending machines or stores per week. After adjusting for socio-demographics, less frequent purchases of snacks from vending machines or stores (b = -3.00, P = 0.03) was associated with higher HEI-C scores. More frequent dinner meals prepared away from home and eating out with friends were only associated with lower HEI-C scores in unadjusted models., Conclusions: Snack purchasing was associated with lower dietary quality among obesity treatment-seeking adolescents. Improving the healthfulness of foods obtained away from home may contribute to healthier diets among these adolescents.

Background: Parents are an important influence on children's dietary intake and eating behaviors. However, the lack of a conceptual framework and inconsistent assessment of food parenting practices limits our understanding of which food parenting practices are most influential on children. The aim of this study was to develop a food parenting practice conceptual framework using systematic approaches of literature reviews and expert input., Method: A previously completed systematic review of food parenting practice instruments and a qualitative study of parents informed the development of a food parenting practice item bank consisting of 3632 food parenting practice items. The original item bank was further reduced to 110 key food parenting concepts using binning and winnowing techniques. A panel of 32 experts in parenting and nutrition were invited to sort the food parenting practice concepts into categories that reflected their perceptions of a food parenting practice conceptual framework. Multi-dimensional scaling produced a point map of the sorted concepts and hierarchical cluster analysis identified potential solutions. Subjective modifications were used to identify two potential solutions, with additional feedback from the expert panel requested., Results: The experts came from 8 countries and 25 participated in the sorting and 23 provided additional feedback. A parsimonious and a comprehensive concept map were developed based on the clustering of the food parenting practice constructs. The parsimonious concept map contained 7 constructs, while the comprehensive concept map contained 17 constructs and was informed by a previously published content map for food parenting practices. Most of the experts (52%) preferred the comprehensive concept map, while 35% preferred to present both solutions., Conclusion: The comprehensive food parenting practice conceptual map will provide the basis for developing a calibrated Item Response Modeling (IRM) item bank that can be used with computerized adaptive testing. Such an item bank will allow for more consistency in measuring food parenting practices across studies to better assess the impact of food parenting practices on child outcomes and the effect of interventions that target parents as agents of change.

Purpose: To explore 10-year longitudinal predictors (personal, psychological, behavioral, and socioenvironmental) of exiting obesity from adolescence to young adulthood., Methods: Data were collected from a population-based cohort of adolescents (n = 2,287) attending middle/high schools in Minneapolis-St. Paul in 1998-1999 (mean age = 14.9) and again in 2008-2009 (mean age = 25.3) participating in Project Eating and Activity Among Teens and Young Adults. Self-reported height and weight were used to calculate weight status change between adolescence and young adulthood, among participants with obesity at baseline (n = 175). Questionnaires assessed personal, psychological, behavioral, and socioenvironmental factors hypothesized to play a role in obesity. Modified Poisson regressions estimated adjusted relative risks (RRs) for exiting obesity as a function of each baseline and 10-year change in predictor, controlling for relevant covariates., Results: Thirty-two percent of adolescents exited obesity in young adulthood. Reductions in fast food intake (RR = .73, 95% confidence interval [CI] = .61-.87) and screen time (RR = .98, 95% CI = .96-.99), and increases in fruit/vegetable intake (RR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.01-1.12), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (RR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.00-1.12), home fruit/vegetable availability (RR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.19-2.09), family meals (RR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.03-1.22), and serving vegetables at dinner (RR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.10-1.92) were associated with exiting obesity. Not dieting as an adolescent and improvements in body satisfaction, depressive symptoms, self-esteem, and weight teasing were also associated with exiting obesity., Conclusions: Promoting healthy eating and activity, and improving the healthfulness of home food environments may be promising intervention targets for promoting healthier weights in adolescents and young adults with obesity. Addressing dieting behavior and the psychosocial health of adolescents with obesity may also be needed throughout the transition to young adulthood., (Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)