Purpose: Parental encouragement for healthy eating and physical activity has been found to be associated with the long-term healthy habits of adolescents, whereas parental encouragement to diet has been associated with disordered eating behaviors among adolescents. However, little is known about how parental encouragement changes as adolescents grow older (longitudinal trends), or how parental encouragement has changed over time (secular trends). This study examined 5-year longitudinal and secular trends in adolescents' report of their parents' encouragement to eat healthily, be physically active, and diet. Methods: Project Eating Among Teens surveyed a cohort of Minnesota adolescents (n = 2,516) in the years 1999 and 2004. Mixed-model regressions were used to assess changes in adolescents' reports of parental encouragement from early to middle adolescence (middle school to high school) and from middle to late adolescence (high school to post-high school), and secular changes in parental encouragement among middle adolescents between the years 1999 and 2004. Results: Longitudinally, there were significant decreases in parental encouragement to eat healthy food, be active, and diet between early and middle adolescence. Between middle and late adolescence, among males parental encouragement for all behaviors decreased, whereas among females parental encouragement to diet increased. Few secular changes in parental encouragement were observed between 1999 and 2004. Conclusion: Given the importance of parental support for healthy eating and physical activity, efforts should be made to help parents maintain a high level of encouragement for their children's healthy behavior throughout adolescence. Parents of late adolescent females should aim to decrease the pressure on their daughters to diet during these critical developmental years. © 2011 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.

This chapter focuses on the practice of yoga and its potential contribution to positive embodiment, as informed by the Developmental Theory of Embodiment. Informed by feminist and social justice lenses, this integrated and intersectional theory delineates protective...

Weight-related self-monitoring (WRSM) apps (e.g., MyFitnessPal) are used by millions of emerging adults. However, little is known about how WRSM app use impacts users outside of clinical contexts. This study examined how a non-clinical sample of emerging adults believed that using WRSM apps impacted them, both behaviorally and cognitively. Qualitative data come from semi-structured interviews from the Tracking-EAT study. Participants (n = 25) were emerging adults (Mage = 24.9 ± 1.8 years) who reported WRSM app use in the past year and were diverse in gender, ethnicity/race, and socioeconomic status. Inductive thematic analysis was used for qualitative data analysis. Participants reported changes in their dietary intake, increased physical activity, “obsessively” prioritizing meeting WRSM goals, and having cognitive and psychological effects from WRSM app use. Dietary implications included picking foods that were easy to track (e.g., prepackaged foods), prioritizing protein, and reducing carbohydrate intake. “Obsessive” prioritization including altering social behaviors to meet WRSM goals at the detriment of other aspects of their life, and further increasing intensity of goals. Cognitive and psychological affects included cognitive persistence of tracking and emotional persistence of tracking including feelings of pride, guilt, and shame. Results suggested that the psychological and behavioral implications of WRSM app use may be more negative than previously assumed, including having potentially harmful dietary implications and cognitive outcomes that extend even after WRSM app use stops. Clinicians should screen their patients who use WRSM apps for potential negative consequences associated with their use and provide additional education.

Positive family qualities, including low parent pressure to control weight, high physical activity support, frequent family meals, family connectedness, healthy family functioning, and parental monitoring, may promote youth psychological and behavioral health. We aimed to identify naturally occurring patterns of family qualities during adolescence and examine links with body satisfaction, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, disordered eating, and substance use during adolescence and young adulthood. Our goal was to inform family-centered interventions to prevent adverse health outcomes impacting youth. Data were from a longitudinal study of 1568 youth (53% female; 20% Asian, 29% Black, 17% Latinx, 19% White), that spanned adolescence (M age = 14.4 years) to young adulthood (M age = 22.2 years). Results from latent class analysis indicated that 8% of families were thriving, with low probability of parent pressure to control weight and high probabilities of physical activity support, frequent family meals, family connectedness, healthy family functioning, and parental monitoring. Other classes were distinguished by weight-specific risk (23% of families), broad risk (34% of families), disengagement (18% of families), and high risk (16% of families). Youth in thriving families reported better psychological and behavioral health than their peers concurrently in adolescence and longitudinally in young adulthood; yet this pattern of family qualities was rare. Family-centered interventions that target parent pressure to control weight, physical activity support, family meals, family connectedness, family functioning, and parental monitoring may help prevent multiple psychological and behavioral health problems. Heterogeneity in family qualities suggests that family-centered interventions could be tailored based on family strengths.

Regular participation in physical activity improves health across the life course, and proximal access to parks can facilitate activity among youth. The 10-minute walk guideline demonstrates the he...

Objective: The transition from adolescence to young adulthood, a period marked with changes to one's biology and social context, may be an important period for establishing long-term sleep behaviors. The present study identified changes in weekday and weekend sleep duration, trouble sleeping, and fatigue from adolescence to young adulthood, and evaluated sex and socioeconomic status differences in these sleep measures. Methods: Study participants (N = 1559) completed surveys in adolescence (2010; Mage = 14.3) and young adulthood (2018; Mage = 22.0). Mixed linear and logistic regression models were used to assess differences in sleep metrics at each time point and over time, and differences based on sex and socioeconomic status. Results: Around 43% of adolescents were not meeting minimum weekday sleep recommendations and average weekday sleep duration was shorter in adolescence (8.1 hours) compared to young adulthood (8.3 hours). During adolescence, the low socioeconomic status group had the shortest weekday sleep duration compared to other socioeconomic status groups, but by young adulthood, all socioeconomic status groups slept for similar durations. Although longer sleep duration was reported on average in young adulthood, a greater proportion of young adults, compared to adolescents, reported fatigue and trouble sleeping. The low socioeconomic status group and females reported more fatigue and trouble sleeping than their counterparts at both adolescence and in young adulthood. Conclusions: Findings suggest a need for sleep interventions that prioritize weekday sleep duration in adolescence, particularly among low socioeconomic status groups, and in young adulthood, there is a need to address fatigue and trouble sleeping, particularly among females.

Objective: The transition from adolescence to young adulthood, a period marked with changes to one's biology and social context, may be an important period for establishing long-term sleep behaviors. The present study identified changes in weekday and weekend sleep duration, trouble sleeping, and fatigue from adolescence to young adulthood, and evaluated sex and socioeconomic status differences in these sleep measures. Methods: Study participants (N = 1559) completed surveys in adolescence (2010; Mage = 14.3) and young adulthood (2018; Mage = 22.0). Mixed linear and logistic regression models were used to assess differences in sleep metrics at each time point and over time, and differences based on sex and socioeconomic status. Results: Around 43% of adolescents were not meeting minimum weekday sleep recommendations and average weekday sleep duration was shorter in adolescence (8.1 hours) compared to young adulthood (8.3 hours). During adolescence, the low socioeconomic status group had the shortest weekday sleep duration compared to other socioeconomic status groups, but by young adulthood, all socioeconomic status groups slept for similar durations. Although longer sleep duration was reported on average in young adulthood, a greater proportion of young adults, compared to adolescents, reported fatigue and trouble sleeping. The low socioeconomic status group and females reported more fatigue and trouble sleeping than their counterparts at both adolescence and in young adulthood. Conclusions: Findings suggest a need for sleep interventions that prioritize weekday sleep duration in adolescence, particularly among low socioeconomic status groups, and in young adulthood, there is a need to address fatigue and trouble sleeping, particularly among females.

Objective: The transition from adolescence to young adulthood, a period marked with changes to one's biology and social context, may be an important period for establishing long-term sleep behaviors. The present study identified changes in weekday and weekend sleep duration, trouble sleeping, and fatigue from adolescence to young adulthood, and evaluated sex and socioeconomic status differences in these sleep measures. Methods: Study participants (N = 1559) completed surveys in adolescence (2010; Mage = 14.3) and young adulthood (2018; Mage = 22.0). Mixed linear and logistic regression models were used to assess differences in sleep metrics at each time point and over time, and differences based on sex and socioeconomic status. Results: Around 43% of adolescents were not meeting minimum weekday sleep recommendations and average weekday sleep duration was shorter in adolescence (8.1 hours) compared to young adulthood (8.3 hours). During adolescence, the low socioeconomic status group had the shortest weekday sleep duration compared to other socioeconomic status groups, but by young adulthood, all socioeconomic status groups slept for similar durations. Although longer sleep duration was reported on average in young adulthood, a greater proportion of young adults, compared to adolescents, reported fatigue and trouble sleeping. The low socioeconomic status group and females reported more fatigue and trouble sleeping than their counterparts at both adolescence and in young adulthood. Conclusions: Findings suggest a need for sleep interventions that prioritize weekday sleep duration in adolescence, particularly among low socioeconomic status groups, and in young adulthood, there is a need to address fatigue and trouble sleeping, particularly among females.

Background: Weight-related self-monitoring (WRSM) apps are used by millions, but the effects of their use remain unclear. This study examined longitudinal relationships between WRSM and disordered eating among a population-based sample of emerging adults. Methods: Participants (n = 138) were recruited from EAT 2010–2018 (Eating and Activity over Time study) to participate in a mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) longitudinal study to understand the impacts of WRSM. In 2018, participants (Mage=21.7 ± 1.9 years) reported motivations for use and types of WRSM apps used. Dependent variables collected in 2022 (Mage=25.7 ± 1.9 years) included past year total number of disordered weight control behaviors, disordered muscle building behaviors, compulsive exercise, and binge eating. Linear and logistic regressions were used adjusting for sociodemographics, body mass index, and baseline disordered eating. Semi-structured interviews (n = 25) were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Participants using WRSM apps for weight management demonstrated an increase in disordered weight control behaviors over time (β = 0.894, p =.012). Using WRSM apps for “healthy” eating was marginally associated with an increase in disordered weight control behaviors. (β = 0.673, p =.052). Qualitatively, participants reported varied temporality between WRSM and disordered eating, but believed that app use encouraged restriction/binge cycles and normalized disordered eating. Conclusions: Findings suggest there may be individual variation in the relationships between WRSM and disordered eating, but that using WRSM apps with the motivation of managing eating or weight may increase disordered eating in some. Additionally, WRSM apps may normalize or encourage disordered eating. Therefore, safeguards, including screening and monitoring, are needed to ensure WRSM does not cause or escalate harm among WRSM users.