The Impact of Social Media on Dietary Behaviors and Body Image of College Students: A Qualitative Approach

Background: The use of social media platforms for health and nutrition information has become popular among college students. Although social media made information readily accessible in different formats, nutritional misinformation promoted by influencers and non-experts caused negative impact on diet behavior and perception of body image. Previous research indicated that extensive use of social media was positively linked to disordered eating behaviors. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram that allow users to follow celebrities intensified exposure to influencers’ messages and images and resulted in negative moods and body dissatisfaction. Objective: This paper aims to explore the impact of social media on college students’ dietary behaviors and body image. Participants: 18 undergraduate students from a public university in the Southern United States were recruited through a mass email. Methods: A cross-sectional qualitative study of three focus groups was conducted. The focus groups were based on guiding open-ended questions. Atlas.ti was used to code and analyze the data using inductive and deductive codes. Results: Three main themes were identified. The conditions theme included elements that explain why and how social media influences the participants’ actions. The actions theme included eating behavior, physical activity, and dietary supplement intake. The consequences theme describes anticipated or actual outcomes of actions such as body image and ideal weight. Conclusions: Social media has had a negative influence on diet behaviors and a positive influence on physical activity. Evidence-based nutrition and weight management information is needed to thwart potential misinformation.

Dietary Behaviors and Influencing Factors among Rural Left-behind Children Aged below 7 Years in China

Left-behind children comprise a special population inChinese rural areas. According to the 2007 China Census,the number ofleft-behind children aged≤14 years was estimated at 58 million which suggested that these childrencon stituted a

Advances in research on responsive feeding and children's eating behaviors

Background:Given that the formation of eating behaviors in childhood is largely dependent on parental feeding,it is necessary to consider eating behaviors along with feeding behaviors when exploring child nutrition.Responsive feeding can not only promote the development of self-regulation ability,prevent overweight and obesity,and develop healthy dietary behaviors but also enhance the psychosocial ability,cognitive ability,and language ability of infants.it is of great significance for the growth and development of infants to identify whether the feeding behavior of caregivers is responsive feeding as early as possible.Methods:The progress of the literature summarizes the relevant concepts,evaluation tools,and the relationship between responsive feeding and dietary behavior.Results:This is a fact that China lacks the unified response feeding definition and responsive feeding evaluation tools suitable for homes in China.The relationship between responsive feeding and dietary behavior is in the stage of infancy,and systematic response feeding and dietary behavior have not been formed.Conclusion:It is time to pay attention to the dietary behavior of Chinese children.Intervening measures such as promoting the application of responsive feeding should be actively carry out,accordingly,childhood obesity can be prevented.

Investigating College Students’ Diet and Physical Activity Behaviors Regarding Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention in China

We aimed to investigate if college students’ dietary and physical activity adhered to the Chinese Dietary Guidelines, the Composing Editorial Board of Physical Activity Guidelines, and WHO recommendation for NCDs prevention. Methods: A 3-day (2 weekdays and 1 weekend day) 24-hour (24-HRs) dietary recall was conducted to record details of participants’ food consumption. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to examine the influence of the identified demographic variables (including BMI, gender, major, family monthly income, and place of household registration) on the 8 food groups’ consumption. We analyzed the effect of the various demographic variables on sodium intake by the student’s t-test. The questionnaire, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)-Short Form, was utilized to assess participants’ physical activity (PA) level. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney was applied to analyze participants’ physical activity. Results: Our research indicated participants consumed much fewer fruits and vegetables and excessive meats on average for both males and females regarding NCDs prevention. Conclusion: Participants’ dietary intake did not comply with the Chinese Dietary Guide-lines recommendation for chronic diseases prevention. Nutrition knowledge and health education are needed for college students. .

Evaluation of the Effects of Sugary Beverages on the Health of Adolescent Students in Guangxi Based on Health System Function Scores

Objective:To evaluate the health effects of sugary beverage consumption among adolescent students in Guangxi.Methods:In three cities of Guangxi(Nanning,Liuzhou,and Guilin),we investigated the consumption of sugary beverages by distributing a self-administered Functional Assessment Questionnaire of Life Health System and a Dietary Behavior Questionnaire(this paper analyzes only the part of sugary beverage consumption)to adolescent students in four schools,aiming to find out the general health status of the students and also to assess the effects of sugary beverages on the functional system health of adolescent students.Results:A total of 953 adolescent students between the ages of 14 and 24 were surveyed.Among them,46.17%consumed sugary beverages once a week;37.46%consumed them 2-3 times;11.52%consumed them more than 3 times;and 4.83%consumed them every day.The mean score of Functional Assessment Questionnaire of Life Health System was 32.There was a positive correlation between the frequency of consumption of sugary beverages and the overall systemic function assessment score(P<0.05),and the rank of the total score elevated by 0.314 times for each increase in the level of consumption.Compared to those who drink sugary beverages at least once a day,drinking them once a week showed a statistically significant difference(P<0.05).However,there was no statistically significant difference between drinking 2-3 times a week and more than 3 times a week(P>0.05).The correlation between consuming sugary beverages once a week and 2-3 times a week and endocrine system scores was also statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusion:More than half of the students in the surveyed areas consumed sugary beverages two or more times a week,and the higher the frequency of consumption,the higher the scores of systemic function assessment.Health education on sugar reduction among adolescents should be strengthened.

Investigation of Status Quo of Dietary Behavior in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Objective: To investigate the status quo of dietary behavior of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and analyze its influence factors. Methods: All patients (n = 104) who went to the department of gastroenterology of Hua Dong Hospital were recruited. Dietary behavior of patients was investigated by a questionnaire self-designed while the nutritional status was evaluated using the Patient-generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA). Results: Among 104 cases with IBD, the numbers of well dietary belief were 58 cases (55.8%) and the poor were 46 cases (45.2%). The good eating habits were 33 cases (31.7%), the general were 25 cases (24.0%) and the poor were 46 (44.2%). The adequate intakes of carbohydrate, protein and fat were separately 36 cases (34.6%), 25 cases (24.0%) and 33 cases (31.7%) while the inadequate intakes were separately 68 cases (65.4%), 79 cases (76.0%) and 71 cases (68.3%). Sex, culture degree and duration were influence factors of the dietary belief (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The problems in dietary behavior are not optimistic. Most patients with IBD are with poor dietary belief and eating habits while the intake of carbohydrate, protein and fat is insufficient although the choice of food is reasonable. And majority of patients were combined with malnutrition. Education of the dietary knowledge about IBD should be strengthened, especially for patients who are female, short-term duration and lower culture degree.

Chemical Characterization and Application of the Essential Oils from Chenopodium ambrosioides and Philodendron bipinnatifidum in the Control of Diabrotica speciosa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

The compositions of essential oils from Chenopodium ambrosioides L. and Philodendron bipinnatifidum Schott were determined, and the their potential effects on the nutrition and mortality of Diabrotica speciosa were studied. The extraction of the oils was performed by hydrodistillation (2 h) using a modified Clevenger apparatus and the oils were subsequently subjected to analysis by gas chromatography/flame ionization detector (CG/FID) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A completely randomized design with five treatments and four replications was adopted. The bean plants were sprayed with solutions of the oils dissolved in aqueous Tween 80 solutions at concentrations of 0 (water + Tween 80), 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% and then furnished to the insects with no choice available. Seven days after the application, the percentage of leaves with injury, degree of defoliation, the preference index for consumption and the percent of mortality of insects were evaluated. Neither of the essential oils caused a reduction in foliar injury, but antifeeding activity was observed, causing reduced feeding and increasing the mortality of adult D. speciosa insects.

Effects of COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine period on physical activity and dietary habits of college-aged students

The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic led to sudden extreme changes in lifestyle,potentially causing adverse changes in physical activity,sedentary behavior,and dietary habits.The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of COVID-19 quarantine on physical activity,dietary habits,and food insecurity among college students who were impacted by the quarantine periods and campus closures.The findings of the study will provide preliminary evidence on dietary,physical activity,and sedentary behavior changes induced by the pandemic among college students.Participants(n=403)completed a cross-sectional self-report online questionnaire,evaluating the physical activity,sedentary behavior,and dietary behaviors before-and during-COVID-19 campus closures(March–May 2020).Sociodemographic and descriptive information was also obtained from each participant.Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to assess changes in physical activity,sedentary behavior,and dietary habits.McNemar's test was used to compare food insecurity changes.Data were presented as median and interquartile range.A total of 291 participants who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study(college-aged,18–24 years).Physical activity decreased at vigorous(2 days/week to 1 day/week,p<0.001),moderate(4 days/week to 1 day/week,p<0.001),and light(4 days/week to 2 days/week,p<0.001)intensity levels,while sedentary behavior increased(4 h/day to 7 h/day,p<0.001)from pre-to during-COVID-19 quarantine period.Frequencies of meals at home and alcohol consumption increased(Z=-3.911 and Z=-4.022,p<0.001),while frequency of fruit consumption decreased(Z=-2.116,p<0.001)from pre-to during-COVID-19 quarantine period.Daily alcohol intake also increased during COVID-19 quarantine period(Z=-4.442,p<0.001).Lastly,the percentage of individuals reporting food insecurity significantly increased during COVID-19 quarantine(p<0.001).College-aged students in quarantine significantly decreased physical activity participation and increased sedentary behavior.Changes in dietary habits were observed,including increased meals at home,alcohol con-sumption,and decreased fruit consumption.Food insecurity also doubled among college-aged students during quarantine.Public health strategies to attenuate these changes in lifestyle habits should be implemented during a global pandemic.

Associations between extracurricular activity participation and health-related variables in underrepresented children

Background:Children from underrepresented populations exhibit low levels of physical activity(PA),diet quality,and health-related quality of life(QoL),but participation in extracurricular activities may positively impact these health outcomes.Purpose:To examine differences in PA,dietary behavior,and QoL in underrepresented children by extracurricular activity dose(0,1,≥2)and type(sports,dance/martial arts,art/music).Methods:Children(N=754;Grades 4–6)completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children,KidsScreen-27(QoL),and the School Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey and self-reported extracurricular activity participation.One-way MANOVA tests were used in this analysis.Results:Individuals participating in 1 and≥2 activities(p<0.001),sport/dance/martial arts(p<0.001),and art/music(p=0.029)had higher PA than non-participants.Those participating in≥2 activities reported higher fruit intake compared to 1 activity and non-participants(p=0.009;p<0.001,respectively).Participants with≥2 activities reported higher parent-and peer-related QoL compared to non-participants(p=0.001;p=0.025,respectively).Conclusions:Extracurricular activity participation was positively associated with health behaviors in underrepresented children.Schools may be encouraged to allocate some of their resources to extracurricular activity programing.