Abstract
Background: Research investigating interrelations between physical activity and dietary intake has primarily used retrospective, summary-based measures of behavior subject to increased recall bias. This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods with accelerometry to determine within-day, momentary associations between physical activity and dietary intake behaviors in African American college freshmen. Methods: Participants (N = 50) completed a dietary EMA protocol that assessed food/fluids consumed over the past 2 h at five random times per day and wore an activPAL accelerometer for 7 days to measure physical activity. Physical activity was operationalized as step counts in the 2 h prior to the EMA prompt (matching the EMA recall window). Results: On occasions when participants took more steps than was typical for them in the 2 h prior to the EMA prompt, they were more likely to consume sugar-sweetened beverages (OR = 1.37, p < 0.001), water (OR = 1.28, p < 0.001), fruit (OR = 1.44, p < 0.001), vegetables (OR = 1.19, p = 0.02), and fried fast food (OR = 1.21, p = 0.04) over that same time. Conclusion: Momentary physical activity co-occurred with momentary consumption of both healthy and unhealthy dietary intake. These behavioral interrelations suggest potential implications for obesity risk and multiple health behavior change interventions in young adult African Americans.
Highlights
Obesity and obesity-related health disparities exist between African American adults and theirWhite counterparts
Recruitment advertisements about the Freshman Reports of Eating, Exercise, Sitting, and Health (FRESH) study were distributed via email to all first-semester freshmen that had previously identified as African American/Black on their college admissions paperwork at a public university in the southeastern
A recent longitudinal study examined changes in dietary intake as well as physical activity using summary-based measures over the transitions from high school to college and found that overall levels of typical physical activity decreased and typical consumption of fruits and vegetables, carbonated sugared soft drinks, sweets, and chips decreased [36]. Though these results suggest that changes in diet and physical activity co-occur on macro-timescales, they did not provide insights into whether physical activity and dietary behaviors co-occur on micro-timescales
Summary
Obesity and obesity-related health disparities exist between African American adults and theirWhite counterparts. Obesity and obesity-related health disparities exist between African American adults and their. A important transition period with implications for weight-related health behavior engagement throughout adulthood is the first semester of college. During this period, individuals are likely to experience significant changes in their roles and responsibilities, resulting in independence, shifting priorities, motivation, and goal pursuits [2]. Research investigating interrelations between physical activity and dietary intake has primarily used retrospective, summary-based measures of behavior subject to increased recall bias. This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods with accelerometry to determine within-day, momentary associations between physical activity and dietary intake behaviors in African American college freshmen. Physical activity was operationalized as step counts in the 2 h prior to the EMA prompt (matching the EMA recall window)
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