Brittany Markides

Designing a WIC App to Improve Health Behaviors: A Latent Class Analysis

Publisher: Journal of Mobile Technology in Medicine

Date: 10-2018

DOI: 10.7309/JMTM.7.2.2

User-centered design of a Texas WIC app: A focus group investigation

Publisher: JCFCorp SG PTE LTD

Date: 07-2016

DOI: 10.5993/AJHB.40.4.8

A thematic cluster analysis of parents’ online discussions about fussy eating (Preprint)

Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.

Date: 19-01-2021

DOI: 10.2196/PREPRINTS.27281

Abstract: ood fussiness is common in toddlerhood. Fussiness is associated with nonresponsive parent feeding practices, such as persuasive and instrumental feeding. Such feeding practices may reinforce fussy eating behaviors and are associated with poorer dietary intake and suboptimal growth trajectories. Parent feeding practices are known to cluster however, no previous research has examined how feeding practices cluster in parents of fussy eaters. his study explored how feeding practices and factors known to influence these clustered among parents who perceived their toddler to be a fussy eater. ata were collected from parent discussions of fussy eating on an online parenting forum on the social media site, Reddit (80,366 posts). Latent Dirichlet Allocation was used to identify discussions of fussy eating. Relevant posts (1,542) made by users who identified as a parent of a fussy eater (n=630) underwent qualitative coding and thematic analysis. ive clusters of parents were identified, ranging in size from 53 to 189 users. These were primarily characterized by parents’ degree of concern and feeding practices: 1) High Concern, Nonresponsive 2) Concerned, Nonresponsive 3) Low Concern, Responsive 4) Low Concern, Mixed Strategies 5) Low Concern, Indulgent. Parents who used responsive practices tended to be less concerned for fussy eating, have greater trust in their child’s ability to self-regulate hunger, have longer-term feeding goals, and exhibit a greater ability for personal self-regulation. actors related to parent feeding practices may cluster among parents who perceive their toddler to be a fussy eater. Future research should examine these constructs to identify how they may relate to each other and to parents’ feeding practices in order to learn how they could be leveraged in parent feeding interventions.

Fussy Eating Rescue, a mobile-web app for responsive feeding practises among parents of toddlers: protocol for a pilot randomised controlled feasibility trial

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 22-07-2023

DOI: 10.1186/S40814-023-01278-2

Abstract: Fussy eating is most often a developmentally typical behaviour, generally presenting during toddlerhood. However, up to half of parents of young children are concerned about fussy eating, and this concern may mediate the use of nonresponsive feeding practises, such as coercive or unstructured feeding and using food to reward eating. Despite the high prevalence of parental concern for fussy eating and the negative impacts nonresponsive feeding practises have on children’s health and diets, no previous digital intervention to improve the feeding practises of parents of toddlers concerned about fussy eating has been evaluated. This article describes the protocol of a randomised controlled feasibility pilot aiming to evaluate Fussy Eating Rescue, a purely web app based intervention for parents of toddlers. The primary aim is to investigate feasibility and acceptability secondary aims are to explore indications of intervention effect on parents’ feeding practises or children’s eating behaviours. Fussy Eating Rescue features include: (1) a Tracker, that allows parents to track repeated offers of food, (2) Topics, providing information on fussy eating, effective feeding strategies, and general nutrition, (3) Rescues, containing quick references to material supporting Topics contents, (4) Recipes, and (5) SMS notifications. Parents of toddlers (12–36 months old, n = 50) who have concerns about fussy eating will be recruited via Facebook. Parents will be randomised to an intervention group, which receives access to the app for 6 weeks, or to wait-listed control. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline and 6 weeks after app use, using online questionnaires and app usage statistics. Primary outcomes include participant retention rate, intervention engagement, app usability, perceived ease in using the app, perceived usefulness of the app, and user satisfaction. Secondary outcome measures include parents’ feeding practises and children’s eating behaviours. Results will inform whether Fussy Eating Rescue is a feasible way to engage parents concerned for their toddler’s fussy eating behaviours. If feasible and acceptable to users, a larger trial will further examine the efficacy of the Fussy Eating app in improving parents’ feeding practises and children’s eating behaviours. Prospectively registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry on 15 July, 2021 (ACTRN12621000925842).

A thematic cluster analysis of parents' online discussions about fussy eating

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 08-02-2022

DOI: 10.1111/MCN.13316

Abstract: Food fussiness is associated with non‐responsive parent feeding practices, such as persuasive and instrumental feeding. Although most children described as ‘fussy eaters’ are likely exhibiting developmentally typical behaviours, up to half of the parents of children 2–5 years old express concerns. Concern for fussy eating may mediate the use of non‐responsive feeding practices and so must be addressed in parent feeding interventions. Therefore, it is critical to better understand parents' concerns and how they may relate to feeding practices. This study aimed to explore how parents' feeding practices and the social cognitive factors that may drive them clustered based on parents' concern for fussy eating. Data were collected from parent discussions of fussy eating on a Reddit forum (80,366 posts). Latent Dirichlet allocation was used to identify discussions of fussy eating. Relevant posts (1542) made by users who identified as a parent of a fussy eater ( n = 630) underwent qualitative coding and thematic analysis. Five clusters of parents were identified, ranging in size from 53 to 189 users. These were primarily characterised by parents' degree of concern and feeding practices: (1) High concern, nonresponsive (2) Concerned, nonresponsive (3) Low concern, responsive (4) Low concern, mixed strategies (5) Low concern, indulgent. Parents who used responsive practices tended to be less concerned for fussy eating, have greater trust in their child's ability to self‐regulate hunger, have longer‐term feeding goals, and exhibit greater ability for personal self‐regulation. Future research should further examine how these constructs may be leveraged in parent feeding interventions.

Development of an Android Mobile Application for Reducing Sitting Time and Increasing Walking Time in People with Type 2 Diabetes

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 22-09-2022

DOI: 10.3390/ELECTRONICS11193011

Abstract: Breaking up prolonged sitting with short bouts of light physical activity including standing and walking has been shown to be beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). This paper presents the development of an android mobile app to deliver a just-in-time adaptive intervention (JITAI) to reduce sedentary time in people with T2D. A total of six design workshops were conducted with seven experts to identify design requirements, a behavioural framework, and required contextual adaptations for the development of a bespoke mobile app (iMOVE). Moreover, a focus group was conducted among people with T2D as potential end-users (N = 10) to ascertain their perceptions of the app. Feedback from the focus group was used in subsequent iterations of the iMOVE app. Data were analysed using an inductive qualitative thematic analysis. Based on workshops, key features of iMOVE were developed, including simplicity (e.g., navigation, login), colours and font sizes, push notifications, messaging algorithms, and a triggering system for breaking up sitting time and moving more. Based on the user testing results, a goal-setting tab was added, font sizes were made larger, the brightness of colours was reduced, and a colour indicator was used to indicate device connectivity with an activity tracker. A user-centric app was developed to support people with T2D to transition from sedentary to active lifestyles.

High Protein Intake Among Preschoolers in Childcare in a Region at Elevated Risk for Obesity

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 02-05-2020

DOI: 10.1007/S10995-020-02935-1

Abstract: To compare diet quality of convenience s les of children 2-3 and 4-5 years attending 11 of 75 childcare centers in Hays County, Texas to a nationally representative s le, as part of a needs assessment to inform a childcare center-based intervention. Parents completed 24-h recalls of their child's diet in 2014. Usual dietary intake of the regional and age-matched s le from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011-2014) was estimated using the National Cancer Institute method. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index. Quantile regression and t-tests compared nutrient intake and Healthy Eating Index scores between the two s les. Children ages 2-3 and 4-5 years in the regional s le (n = 124) consumed a higher percent of calories from protein (19%) than children in the national s le (n = 1613 14%, P < .0.0001). In the regional s le, 21% of children 2-3 years consumed protein in excess of the AMDR compared to fewer than 1% of children in the national s le. Assessing regional diet while planning health outreach is important. Among children in childcare in this community, high protein intake may contribute to weight disparity. Workshops with childcare center staff to address center policies, environments, and parent outreach could address replacing some high-protein foods with other nutrient-rich foods.

Staff Workshop Improves Child Care Center Menus in South Central Texas: A Best Food for Families, Infants, and Toddlers (Best Food FITS) Intervention

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 05-2017

DOI: 10.1016/J.JNEB.2017.02.002

Abstract: To assess the efficacy of an educational workshop for child care center staff to improve menus. Staff from 18 centers attended a nutrition educational workshop that included an activity that compared center menus to MyPlate standards. Four weeks of menus collected before and after the workshop were imported into SuperTracker the Food Details report produced menu data clustered by day and center. Changes in pre-post menus were assessed using Healthy Eating Index scores and the SAS software macro, MIXCORR. After the workshop, there was a lower probability that fruit juice (P = .03) and starchy vegetables (P = .004) and a higher probability that non-starchy vegetables (P < .001) and whole grains (P = .004) were on menus amounts of refined grains (P = .004), savory snacks (P < .001), and cheese (P = .004) were significantly lower. Total Healthy Eating Index scores improved after the workshop (P = .009). Comparing 4 weeks of menus revealed menu changes. Workshop interventions show promise for improving children's health.

Perinatal support for breastfeeding using mHealth: A mixed methods feasibility study of the My Baby Now app

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 02-2023

DOI: 10.1111/MCN.13482

Abstract: Despite the well‐known benefits of breastfeeding, breastfeeding rates remain suboptimal, particularly for women with lower socioeconomic position. Although popular, breastfeeding apps are often poor quality their impact on breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes, confidence and intentions is unknown. A mixed method pre‐post feasibility study was conducted to: 1) explore the feasibility of the My Baby Now app in providing perinatal breastfeeding support 2) examine the impact on breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes, confidence and intentions 3) to examine any differences in acceptability and impact of the app according to maternal education. The My Baby Now app was offered to pregnant women 20–30 weeks gestation. Breastfeeding knowledge and intentions were collected at baseline (T1) and 36–38 weeks gestation (T2) attitudes and confidence were collected at baseline, T2 and T3 (8–12 weeks post‐partum). App engagement was measured via app analytics. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a purposeful s le following T3. Of 266 participants recruited, 169 (64%) completed T2 and 157 (59%) completed T3. Mothers without university education rated the app to be higher quality, more useful and impactful than mothers with university education. From T1–T2, breastfeeding knowledge (59.6% vs. 66.5%, p 0.001) and exclusive breastfeeding intentions (76.6% vs. 80.9%, p 0.001) increased. Breastfeeding attitudes and confidence scores also increased significantly across T1–T2 and T1–T3. App engagement during pregnancy predicted changes in breastfeeding attitudes from T1–T2 among participants without university education. App engagement did not predict changes in breastfeeding knowledge, confidence or intentions. Future randomised controlled studies should examine the effectiveness of mHealth interventions on breastfeeding outcomes.

Choose Food

Location: United States of America

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Deakin University

Location: Australia

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Deakin Univeristy

Location: Australia

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Texas State University San Marcos

Location: United States of America

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