Web-based Food Behaviour Questionnaire: Validation with Grades Six to Eight Students

Objective: The increasing prevalence of obesity among youth has elicited calls for schools to become more active in promoting healthy weight. The present study examined associations between various aspects of school food environments (specifically the availability of snack-and beverage-vending machines and the presence of snack and beverage logos) and students' weight status, as well as potential influences of indices of diet and food behaviours. Design: A cross-sectional, self-administered web-based survey. A series of multinomial logistic regressions with generalized estimating equations (GEE) were constructed to examine associations between school environment variables (i.e. the reported presence of beverage-and snack-vending machines and logos) and self-reported weight-and diet-related behaviours. Setting: Secondary schools in Alberta, Canada. Subjects: A total of 4936 students from grades 7 to 10. Results: The presence of beverage-vending machines in schools was associated with the weight status of students. The presence of snack-vending machines and logos was associated with students' frequency of consuming vended goods. The presence of snack-vending machines and logos was associated with the frequency of salty snack consumption. Conclusions: The reported presence of snack-and beverage-vending machines and logos in schools is related to some indices of weight status, diet and meal behaviours but not to others. The present study supported the general hypothesis that the presence of vending machines in schools may affect students' weight through increased consumption of vended goods, but notes that the frequency of 'junk' food consumption does not seem to be related to the presence of vending machines, perhaps reflecting the ubiquity of these foods in the daily lives of students.

Section: Ffqmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between the perceived presence of vending machines and food and beverage logos in schools and adolescents’ diet and weight status

Minaker

Storey

Raine

et al. 2011

“…The web-based Food Behaviour Questionnaire (20) , including a 24 h diet recall, was used to assess nutrient intake. Participants completed the questionnaire independently in the school's computer lab over 30-40 min of class time.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations among blood pressure, salt consumption and body weight status of students from south-western Ontario

Woodruff

Fryer

Campbell

et al. 2013

Objective: The purpose was to examine the associations among body weight status, blood pressure and daily Na intake among grade 7 students from south-western Ontario, Canada. Design: Cross-sectional. Data were collected using the Food Behaviour Questionnaire, including a 24 h diet recall. Measured height and weight were used to determine BMI. Blood pressure was taken manually using mercury sphygmomanometers. Setting: Twenty-six schools in south-western Ontario, Canada. Subjects: Grade 7 students (n 1068). Results: Body weight status indicated 1 % were underweight, 56 % normal weight, 23 % overweight and 20 % were obese. Mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were 108?3 (SD 10?3) mmHg and 66?0 (SD 7?5) mmHg, respectively, and mean Na intake was 2799 (SD 1539) mg/d. Bivariate analyses suggested that SBP (P , 0?001) and DBP (P , 0?001) were significantly different by body weight status, yet no associations were observed for Na. Adjusted for gender, ethnicity and under-reporting, participants were more likely to be overweight/obese if they had higher SBP (v. lower: OR 5 1?06, 95 % CI 1?05, 1?08, P , 0?001), higher DBP (v. lower: OR 5 1?02, 95 % CI 1?00, 1?04, P 5 0?043) and higher intakes of Na (3rd v. 1st quartile: OR 5 1?72, 95 % CI 1?14, 2?59, P 5 0?009; 4th v. 1st quartile: OR 5 2?88, 95 % CI, 1?76, 4?73, P , 0?001). Conclusions: High intakes of Na, coupled with high SBP and DBP, were associated with overweight and obesity status among the grade 7 sample from south-western Ontario, Canada.

“…Researchers developed an online self-report questionnaire with items adapted from tools previously validated with children and adolescents wherever possible (19)(20)(21) . When no relevant tool was available, new questions were developed to address constructs of interest to the study.…”

Section: Questionnaire Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between socio-economic status and school-day dietary intake in a sample of grade 5–8 students in Vancouver, Canada

Ahmadi

Black

Velazquez

et al. 2014

Objective: To examine associations between students' socio-economic status (SES) and school-day dietary intake, and the roles of parents and peers in shaping these associations. Design: A cross-sectional survey measured school-day intake of vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, packaged snack foods and sugar-sweetened beverages. Logistic regression models examined associations between SES (parental education and food insecurity status) and dietary outcomes during or en route to or from school, and examined whether peer modelling or parental norms potentially mediated the associations between SES and dietary outcomes. Setting: Twenty-six public schools in Vancouver, Canada in 2012. Subjects: Nine hundred and fifty students in grades 5-8. Results: Students whose parents completed some college, compared with those completing high school or less, were significantly more likely to consume vegetables daily (unadjusted OR = 1·85; 95 % CI 1·06, 3·22) and students whose parents completed college or university were significantly less likely to consume sugar-sweetened beverages daily (unadjusted OR = 0·67; 95 % CI 0·47, 0·94). Food secure students were also significantly less likely to consume sugar-sweetened beverages daily compared with food insecure students (unadjusted OR = 0·52; 95 % CI 0·29, 0·92). Parental norms, but not peer modelling, emerged as a potential mediator of the association between SES and vegetable intake. SES was not significantly associated with the remaining dietary outcomes. Conclusions: Higher SES was significantly associated with two of five school-day dietary outcomes and predicted higher likelihood of daily nutritious food choices at school. The present study suggests that there is room for improvement in school-day dietary quality for students from all SES backgrounds in Vancouver.