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Resumen: La obesidad infantil es un grave problema de salud pública en Latinoamérica y Estados Unidos y para luchar contra ella se precisan instrumentos de medición válidos y fiables y que tengan en cuenta los aspectos culturales. Para avanzar en este campo sería útil mejorar las mediciones en los distintos grupos de edades y países del continente americano, tanto en las comunidades de origen como en las de acogida. Además, una mayor precisión y comparabilidad de las mediciones contribuiría a acelerar la colaboración y el aprendizaje transfronterizos. En este documento presentamos (1) los marcos conceptuales que han influido en nuestra perspectiva sobre la obesidad infantil y las necesidades relacionadas con su medición en el continente americano; (2) un resumen de los recursos y guías existentes sobre los instrumentos de medida y su adaptación a la investigación de la obesidad infantil; (3) tres áreas clave que plantean desafíos y oportunidades para avanzar en la medición de la obesidad infantil, incluidas las conductas parentales, la aculturación y el potencial de utilizar métodos etnográficos para identificar los factores clave relacionados con la economía y la globalización. El progreso para reducir la obesidad infantil en las Américas podría acelerarse mediante mayor colaboración transnacional destinada a optimizar la medición para una mejor vigilancia, desarrollo y evaluación de intervenciones, investigación de implementación y evaluación de los experimentos naturales. Además, es necesario mejorar la formación sobre los instrumentos de medición y el acceso a medidas válidas y fiables tanto en español como en otros idiomas de uso frecuente en las Américas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Walking, the most commonly reported physical activity among U.S. adults, is undertaken in various domains, including transportation and leisure. Methods: This study examined prevalence, bout length, and mean amount of walking in the last week for transportation and leisure, by selected characteristics. Self-reported data from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey (N = 24,017) were analyzed. Results: Prevalence of transportation walking was 29.4% (95% CI: 28.6%-30.3%) and of leisure walking was 50.0% (95% CI: 49.1%-51.0%). Prevalence of transportation walking was higher among men; prevalence of leisure walking was higher among women. Most (52.4%) transportation walking bouts were 10 to 15 minutes; leisure walking bouts were distributed more evenly (28.0%, 10-15 minutes; 17.1%, 41-60 minutes). Mean time spent in transportation walking was higher among men, decreased with increasing BMI, and varied by race/ethnicity and region of residence. Mean time spent leisure walking increased with increasing age and with decreasing BMI. Conclusion: Demographic correlates and patterns of walking differ by domain. Interventions focusing on either leisure or transportation walking should consider correlates for the specific walking domain. Assessing prevalence, bout length, and mean time of walking for transportation and leisure separately allows for more comprehensive surveillance of walking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Discrepancies in self-report and accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) may influence relationships with obesity-related biomarkers in youth. Methods: Data came from 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) for 2174 youth ages 12 to 19. Biomarkers were: body mass index (BMI, kg/m2), BMI percentile, height and waist circumference (WC, cm), triceps and subscapular skinfolds (mm), systolic & diastolic blood pressure (BP, mniHg), high-density lipoprotein (HDL, mg/dL), total cholesterol (mg/dL), triglycerides (mg/dL), insulin (µU/ml), C-reactive protein (mg/dL), and glycohemoglobin (%). In separate sex-stratified models, each biomarker was regressed on accelerometer variables [mean MVPA (min/day), nonsedentary counts, and MVPA bouts (mean min/day)] and self-reported MVPA. Covariates were age, race/ethnicity, SES, physical limitations, and asthma. Results: In boys, correlations between self-report and accelerometer MVPA were stronger (boys: r = 0.14–0.21; girls: r = 0.07–0.11; P < .010) and there were significant associations with BMI, WC, triceps skinfold, and SBP and accelerometer MVPA (P < .01). In girls, there were no significant associations between biomarkers and any measures of physical activity. Conclusions: Physical activity measures should be selected based on the outcome of interest and study population; however, associations between PA and these biomarkers appear to be weak regardless of the measure used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Childhood obesity is a major public health challenge across Latin America and the United States. Addressing childhood obesity depends on valid, reliable, and culturally sensitive measurements. Such progress within and between countries of the Americas could be enhanced through better measurement across different age groups, different countries, and in sending and receiving communities. Additionally, better and more comparable measurements could accelerate cross‐border collaboration and learning. Here, we present (1) frameworks that influenced our perspectives on childhood obesity and measurement needs across the Americas; (2) a summary of resources and guidance available concerning measurement and adaptation of measures for childhood obesity research; and (3) three major areas that present challenges and opportunities for measurement advances related to childhood obesity, including parental behavior, acculturation, and the potential to incorporate ethnographic methods to identify critical factors related to economics and globalization. Progress to reduce childhood obesity across the Americas could be accelerated by further transnational collaboration aimed at improving measurement for better surveillance, intervention development and evaluation, implementation research, and evaluation of natural experiments. Additionally, there is a need to improve training related to measurement and for improving access to valid and reliable measures in Spanish and other languages common in the Americas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background We ascertained the degree to which language (English versus Spanish), and residence time in the US influence responses to survey questions concerning two topics: self-reported acculturation status, and recent physical activity (PA). This topic is likely to be of general interest because of growing numbers of immigrants in countries worldwide. Methods We carried out qualitative (cognitive) interviews of survey items on acculturation and physical activity on 27 Latino subjects from three groups: (a) In Spanish, of those of low residence time (less than five years living in the U.S.) (n = 9); (b) In Spanish, of those of high residence time (15 or more years in the U.S) (n = 9); and (c) in English, of those of high residence time (n = 9). Results There were very few language translation problems; general question design defects and socio-cultural challenges to survey responses were more common. Problems were found for both acculturation and PA questions, with distinct problem types for the two question areas. Residence time/language group was weakly associated with overall frequency of problems observed: low residence time/Spanish (86%), high residence time/Spanish (67%), and English speaking groups (62%). Conclusions Standardized survey questions related to acculturation and physical activity present somewhat different cognitive challenges. For PA related questions, problems with such questions were similar regardless of subject residence time or language preference. For acculturation related questions, residence time/language or education level influenced responses to such questions. These observations should help in the interpretation of survey results for culturally diverse populations.

Abstract Background Past studies of associations between measures of the built environment, particularly street connectivity, and active transportation (AT) or leisure walking/bicycling have largely failed to account for spatial autocorrelation of connectivity variables and have seldom examined both the propensity for AT and its duration in a coherent fashion. Such efforts could improve our understanding of the spatial and behavioral aspects of AT. We analyzed spatially identified data from Los Angeles and San Diego Counties collected as part of the 2001 California Health Interview Survey. Results Principal components analysis indicated that ~85% of the variance in nine measures of street connectivity are accounted for by two components representing buffers with short blocks and dense nodes (PRIN1) or buffers with longer blocks that still maintain a grid like structure (PRIN2). PRIN1 and PRIN2 were positively associated with active transportation (AT) after adjustment for diverse demographic and health related variables. Propensity and duration of AT were correlated in both Los Angeles (r = 0.14) and San Diego (r = 0.49) at the zip code level. Multivariate analysis could account for the correlation between the two outcomes. After controlling for demography, measures of the built environment and other factors, no spatial autocorrelation remained for propensity to report AT (i.e., report of AT appeared to be independent among neighborhood residents). However, very localized correlation was evident in duration of AT, particularly in San Diego, where the variance of duration, after accounting for spatial autocorrelation, was 5% smaller within small neighborhoods (~0.01 square latitude/longitude degrees = 0.6 mile diameter) compared to within larger zip code areas. Thus a finer spatial scale of analysis seems to be more appropriate for explaining variation in connectivity and AT. Conclusions Joint analysis of the propensity and duration of AT behavior and an explicitly geographic approach can strengthen studies of the built environment and physical activity (PA), specifically AT. More rigorous analytical work on cross-sectional data, such as in the present study, continues to support the need for experimental and longitudinal study designs including the analysis of natural experiments to evaluate the utility of environmental interventions aimed at increasing PA.

Background: The positive association between physical activity and sunburn is a health behavior trade-off between the health benefits of physical activity and increased risk of skin cancer.Purpose: We assessed walking, which is a common source of physical activity, and the prevalence of sunburn.Methods: This research used the 2015 National Health Interview Survey of adults (N = 26,632), age ≥ 18 years. We defined four exclusive categories of walking: (a) those who reported not walking; (b) only transportation (to get some place, such as work, a store, or public transit stop); (c) only leisure (such as for fun, relaxation, or exercise); and (d) both categories. We estimated the adjusted prevalence of sunburn by walking category and separately for walking duration; we stratified by gender and sun sensitivity.Results: The adjusted sunburn prevalence was not different between walking categories for women, but it was for men. Specifically, prevalence was lower for men who reported not walking, 34.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 32.2%-36.1%) compared to 38.8% (95% CI: 36.5%-41.2%) who walked for both purposes (p = .003). Walking duration was not associated with sunburn prevalence.Conclusion: We could not determine whether sunburn occurred during walking trips because the questions were not asked as such. However, the results suggest that walking, unlike leisure-time physical activity (such as exercise, sports, or physically active hobbies), may not generally be associated with sunburn, except for the higher sunburn prevalence for men who walked for both leisure and transportation purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]