| 1. |
- Abdollahi, Anna M., et al.
(författare)
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Comparison of actigraphy-measured and parent-reported sleep in association with weight status among preschool children
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Sleep Research. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0962-1105 .- 1365-2869. ; 33:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study compared weekday and weekend actigraphy-measured and parent-reported sleep in relation to weight status among preschool-aged children. Participants were 3–6 years old preschoolers from the cross-sectional DAGIS-study with sleep data for ≥2 weekday and ≥2 weekend nights. Parents-reported sleep onset and wake-up times were gathered alongside 24 h hip-worn actigraphy. An unsupervised Hidden-Markov Model algorithm provided actigraphy-measured night time sleep without the guidance of reported sleep times. Waist-to-height ratio and age-and-sex-specific body mass index characterised weight status. Comparison of methods were assessed with consistency in quintile divisions and Spearman correlations. Associations between sleep and weight status were assessed with adjusted regression models. Participants included 638 children (49% girls) with a mean ± SD age of 4.76 ± 0.89. On weekdays, 98%–99% of actigraphy-measured and parent-reported sleep estimates were classified in the same or adjacent quintile and were strongly correlated (rs = 0.79–0.85, p < 0.001). On weekends, 84%–98% of actigraphy-measured and parent-reported sleep estimates were respectively classified and correlations were moderate to strong (rs = 0.62–0.86, p < 0.001). Compared with actigraphy-measured sleep, parent-reported sleep had consistently earlier onset, later wake-up, and greater duration. Earlier actigraphy-measured weekday sleep onset and midpoint were associated with a higher body mass index (respective β-estimates: −0.63, p < 0.01 and −0.75, p < 0.01) and waist-to-height ratio (−0.004, p = 0.03 and −0.01, p = 0.02). Though the sleep estimation methods were consistent and correlated, actigraphy measures should be favoured as they are more objective and sensitive to identifying associations between sleep timing and weight status compared with parent reports.
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| 2. |
- Burnett, Alissa J., et al.
(författare)
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The role of parental congruence in pre-school children's screen time, moderated by parental education
- 2023
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Ingår i: Acta Paediatrica. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0803-5253 .- 1651-2227. ; 112:7, s. 1504-1510
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AimThis study investigated whether parental congruency regarding screen time (ST) is associated with ST in pre-school children. In addition, we investigated whether parental education levels moderated this relationship.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015–2016 in Finland (N = 688). Parents completed a questionnaire reporting their children's sedentary behaviour, their parental congruency regarding ST rules, and their educational level. Associations were examined using linear regression.ResultsChildren of parents with higher congruence regarding ST rules engaged in less ST, this was moderated by parental education levels. Children whose parents had a high level of education and parents' who strongly agree or somewhat agree on ST rules was negatively associated with ST. Furthermore, children whose parents had a medium level of education and parents' who strongly agree on ST rules was negatively associated with ST.ConclusionChildren of parents who agree on ST rules engaged in less ST compared with children of parents who do not agree on ST rules. Providing advice to parents regarding parental congruency could be the focus of future interventions.
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| 3. |
- Engberg, Elina, et al.
(författare)
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Parental Happiness Associates With the Co-occurrence of Preschool-Aged Children’s Healthy Energy Balance-Related Behaviors
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Happiness Studies. - : Springer Nature. - 1389-4978 .- 1573-7780. ; 23:4, s. 1493-1507
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examined whether parental happiness associate with preschoolers’ healthy energy balance-related behaviors (EBRBs) and with the co-occurrence of multiple healthy EBRBs. This cross-sectional study included 647 pairs of parents (88% mothers) and children (mean age 4.7, SD 0.9 years). Parents completed the Subjective Happiness Scale. In addition, ActiGraph accelerometers measured children’s physical activity, and parents reported screen time and food consumption on behalf of their children. We defined four healthy EBRBs: meeting physical activity guidelines; meeting screen time guidelines; a higher consumption of vegetables, fruits and berries; and a lower consumption of sugary foods, treats and drinks. Parental happiness scores did not associate with children’s healthy EBRBs when each behavior was analyzed separately. However, parents with higher happiness scores were more likely to have a child with 2 or 3–4 healthy EBRBs than a child with 0–1 healthy EBRBs. To conclude, parents who are happier have children with multiple healthy EBRBs. Targeting parental wellbeing should be considered when promoting children’s healthy EBRBs.
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| 4. |
- Gustafsson, Jasmine, et al.
(författare)
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Parental Mental Well-Being and Frequency of Adult-Child Nature Visits : The Mediating Roles of Parents' Perceived Barriers
- 2021
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 18:13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Regular access to green space has been shown to provide several health benefits for children. However, children today spend less time outdoors. Thus, it has become important to understand what drives and limits children's activities in nature. Based on a Finnish online survey of 1463 parents of children aged 2-7 conducted in 2019, the current study examined parents' perceived barriers to visiting nature with their children. It also examined how parental mental well-being is related to families' frequency of nature visits, and whether this association is mediated by different categories of parents' perceived barriers. Eleven out of 12 barriers were largely perceived by parents as reasons that did not prevent them from visiting nature with their children. Next, factor analysis indicated a three-factor solution to the barriers. The results of a multiple mediation analysis showed that better parental mental well-being was associated with more frequent adult-child nature visits, and this relationship was partially mediated by a "lack of competence and logistics" and a "lack of time and interest", but not by "insecurity and fear". The results indicated that parents with poor mental well-being were more likely to perceive barriers to visiting nature, which in turn appeared to be related to a higher likelihood of having children who visited nature less frequently.
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| 5. |
- Gustafsson, Jasmine, et al.
(författare)
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Role of early childhood educators' demographic characteristics and perceived work environment in implementation of a preschool health promotion intervention
- 2023
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Ingår i: Archives of Public Health. - : Springer Nature. - 0778-7367 .- 2049-3258. ; 81:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Research has indicated that the effectiveness of intervention programs is affected by how well these programs are implemented, but key gaps remain in our understanding of the factors that promote or inhibit implementation. This study examined how demographic characteristics and perceived work environment among early childhood educators were associated with implementation outcomes of the Increased Health and Wellbeing in Preschools (DAGIS) intervention, which was conducted as a cluster randomized trial.Methods: Participants included 101 educators from 32 intervention preschool classrooms. Data were analyzed at the classroom level, as the DAGIS intervention was delivered in preschool classrooms consisting of several educators instead of individual implementers. Linear regression was used to estimate the associations of educators' demographic characteristics and perceived work environment with different aspects of implementation (i.e., dose delivered; dose received - exposure; dose received - satisfaction; and perceived quality, as well as a total sum score based on these four dimensions). Municipality was controlled in the adjusted models.Results: Findings indicated that having a higher proportion of educators with a Bachelor's or Master's degree in education within the classroom was associated with higher dose received - exposure and higher total degree of implementation, and the significance of the models was unaffected by adjustment for municipality. Moreover, having a higher proportion of educators younger than 35 years within the classroom was associated with higher dose received - exposure. However, the association was non-significant when adjusted for municipality. No other educator factor (i.e., work experience in years and perceived support from coworkers, group work, and innovative climate) predicted implementation outcomes.Conclusions: Higher educational attainment and younger age among educators at the classroom level were associated with higher scores for some of the implementation outcomes. Educators' work experience in years at the current preschool and in early childhood education, support from coworkers, group work, and innovative climate were not significantly associated with any implementation outcomes. Future research should explore ways to improve educators' implementation of interventions aimed at promoting children's health behaviors.
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| 6. |
- Kokkonen, Juuli-Mari, et al.
(författare)
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Associations between Parent–Child Nature Visits and Sleep, Physical Activity and Weight Status among Finnish 3–6-Year-Olds
- 2021
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 18:23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nature visits and nature exposure have been shown to be favorably associated with children’s health and development, but the research regarding their associations with children’s lifestyle habits is limited. The current study aimed to investigate the associations between the frequency of parent–child nature visits and sleep, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and weight status among three- to six-year-old Finnish preschoolers. Parents and their children (n = 864) participated in a cross-sectional DAGIS (increased health and wellbeing in preschools) study, which was conducted between 2015 and 2016 in Finland. In total, 798 parents answered a questionnaire on the frequency of parent–child nature visits, which also included questions on sociodemographic factors and their children’s sleep habits. Parents also reported children’s bedtimes and wake-up times and children wore an accelerometer for seven days. Trained researchers measured children’s weight and height. Linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted. More frequent parent–child nature visits were associated with children’s longer sleep duration at night, higher amounts of MVPA outside preschool time and, among girls, good sleep consistency. The frequency of parent–child nature visits was not significantly associated with whether children were overweight or obese or not. Promoting parent–child nature visits could be a cost-effective way to increase young children’s MVPA and enhance night-time sleep.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Lehto, Elviira, et al.
(författare)
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Do descriptive norms related to parents and friends predict fruit and vegetable intake similarly among 11-year-old girls and boys?
- 2015
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Ingår i: British Journal of Nutrition. - Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press. - 0007-1145 .- 1475-2662. ; 115:1, s. 168-175
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examined whether there are sex differences in children's fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and in descriptive norms (i.e. perceived FV intake) related to parents and friends. We also studied whether friends' impact is as important as that of parents on children's FV intake. Data from the PRO GREENS project in Finland were obtained from 424 children at the age 11 years at baseline. At baseline, 2009 children filled in a questionnaire about descriptive norms conceptualised as perceived FV intake of their parents and friends. They also filled in a validated FFQ that assessed their FV intake both at baseline and in the follow-up in 2010. The associations were examined with multi-level regression analyses with multi-group comparisons. Girls reported higher perceived FV intake of friends and higher own fruit intake at baseline, compared with boys, and higher vegetable intake both at baseline and in the follow-up. Perceived FV intake of parents and friends was positively associated with both girls' and boys' FV intake in both study years. The impact of perceived fruit intake of the mother was stronger among boys. The change in children's FV intake was affected only by perceived FV intake of father and friends. No large sex differences in descriptive norms were found, but the impact of friends on children's FV intake can generally be considered as important as that of parents. Future interventions could benefit from taking into account friends' impact as role models on children's FV intake.
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| 9. |
- Lehto, Elviira, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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Mediation of parental educational level on fruit and vegetable intake among schoolchildren in ten European countries
- 2015
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Ingår i: Public Health Nutrition. - 1368-9800 .- 1475-2727. ; 18:1, s. 89-99
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: To examine which factors act as mediators between parental educational level and children's fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake in ten European countries.Design: Cross-sectional data were collected in ten European countries participating in the PRO GREENS project (2009). Schoolchildren completed a validated FFQ about their daily F&V intake and filled in a questionnaire about availability of F&V at home, parental facilitation of F&V intake, knowledge of recommendations about F&V intake, self-efficacy to eat F&V and liking for F&V. Parental educational level was determined from a questionnaire given to parents. The associations were examined with multilevel mediation analyses.Setting: Schools in Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden.Subjects: Eleven-year-old children (n 8159, response rate 72%) and their parents.Results: In five of the ten countries, children with higher educated parents were more likely to report eating fruits daily. This association was mainly mediated by knowledge but self-efficacy, liking, availability and facilitation also acted as mediators in some countries. Parents' education was positively associated with their children's daily vegetable intake in seven countries, with knowledge and availability being the strongest mediators and self-efficacy and liking acting as mediators to some degree.Conclusions: Parental educational level correlated positively with children's daily F&V intake in most countries and the pattern of mediation varied among the participating countries. Future intervention studies that endeavour to decrease the educational-level differences in F&V intake should take into account country-specific features in the relevant determinants of F&V intake.
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| 10. |
- Lehto, Elviira, et al.
(författare)
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Predicting gender differences in liking for vegetables and preference for a variety of vegetables among 11-year-old children
- 2015
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Ingår i: Appetite. - : Academic Press. - 0195-6663 .- 1095-8304. ; 95, s. 285-292
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We studied the factors that predict liking for vegetables and preference for a variety of vegetables among schoolchildren. Additionally, we examined if there were gender differences in the predictors that explain the hypothesized higher scores in liking vegetables and preferences among girls. The data from the PRO GREENS project included 424 Finnish children (response rate 77%) aged 11 to 12. The children completed validated measures about social and environmental factors related to their liking for vegetables and preferences both at baseline 2009 and follow-up 2010. The associations were examined with regression and mediation analyses. The strongest predictors of both girls' and boys' liking and preferences were higher levels of eating vegetables together with the family, previous vegetable intake and a lower level of perceived barriers. Liking was additionally predicted by a lower level of parental demand that their child should eat vegetables. Girls reported higher levels of liking and preferences in the follow-up. This gender difference was mainly explained by girls' lower level of perceived barriers related to vegetable intake and girls' higher previous vegetable intake. Interventions that aim to increase the low vegetable intake among boys by increasing their liking for vegetables and preference for a variety of vegetables could benefit from targeting perceived barriers, namely boys' perception and values concerning the consumption of vegetables.
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