FI is a major public health problem among postsecondary education students. Studies are needed to assess the long-term influence of FI among this vulnerable population. More research is needed on the effectiveness of FI interventions.

Objective Cooking programs are growing in popularity; however an extensive review has not examined overall impact. Therefore, this study reviewed previous research on cooking/home food preparation interventions and diet and health-related outcomes among adults and identified implications for practice and research. Design Literature review and descriptive summative method. Main outcome measures Dietary intake, knowledge/skills, cooking attitudes and self-efficacy/confidence, health outcomes. Analysis Articles evaluating effectiveness of interventions that included cooking/home food preparation as the primary aim (January 1980 through December 2011) were identified via OVID MEDLINE, Agricola and Web of Science databases. Studies grouped according to design and outcomes were reviewed for validity using an established coding system. Results were summarized for several outcome categories. Results Of 28 studies identified, 12 included a control group with six as non-randomized and six as randomized controlled trials. Evaluation was done post-intervention for five studies, pre- and post-intervention for 23 and beyond post-intervention for 15. Qualitative and quantitative measures suggested a positive influence on main outcomes. However, non-rigorous study designs, varying study populations, and use of non-validated assessment tools limited stronger conclusions. Conclusions and Implications Well-designed studies are needed that rigorously evaluate long-term impact on cooking behavior, dietary intake, obesity and other health outcomes.

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Objective To examine neighbourhood food environments, adolescent nutrition and weight status. Design Cross-sectional, observational study. Setting Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan region, Minnesota, USA. Subjects A total of 349 adolescents were recruited to the study. Participants completed 24 h dietary recalls and had their weight and height measured. They also reported demographic information and other diet-related behaviours. Geographic Information Systems were used to examine the availability and proximity of food outlets, particularly those captured within the 800, 1600 and/or 3000m network buffers around participants' homes and schools. Results Adjusting for gender, age and socio-economic status, adolescents' sugar-sweetened beverage intake was associated with residential proximity to restaurants (including fast food), convenience stores, grocery stores and other retail facilities within the 800 and/or 1600m residential buffers (P ≤ 0.01). BMI Z-score and percentage body fat were positively associated with the presence of a convenience store within a 1600m buffer. Other individual-level factors, such as energy, fruit and vegetable intake, as well as convenience store and fast food purchasing, were not significantly associated with features of the residential neighbourhood food environment in adjusted models. In addition, school neighbourhood environments yielded few associations with adolescent outcomes. Conclusions Many factors are likely to have an important role in influencing adolescent dietary intake and weight status. Interventions aimed at increasing neighbourhood access to healthy foods, as well as other approaches, are needed.

Few studies have examined the context of a wide range of risk behaviors among emerging adults (ages 18-25 years), approximately half of whom in the USA enroll in post-secondary educational institutions. The objective of this research was to examine behavioral patterning in weight behaviors (diet and physical activity), substance use, sexual behavior, stress, and sleep among undergraduate students. Health survey data were collected among undergraduates attending a large, public US university (n=2,026). Latent class analysis was used to identify homogeneous, mutually exclusive "classes" (patterns) of ten leading risk behaviors. Resulting classes differed for males and females. Female classes were defined as: (1) poor lifestyle (diet, physical activity, sleep), yet low-risk behaviors (e.g., smoking, binge drinking, sexual risk, drunk driving; 40.0% of females), (2) high risk (high substance use, intoxicated sex, drunk driving, poor diet, inadequate sleep) (24.3%), (3) moderate lifestyle, few risk behaviors (20.4%), (4) "health conscious" (favorable diet/physical activity with some unhealthy weight control; 15.4%). Male classes were: (1) poor lifestyle, low risk (with notably high stress, insufficient sleep, 9.2% of males), (2) high risk (33.6% of males, similar to class 2 in females), (3) moderate lifestyle, low risk (51.0%), and (4) "classic jocks" (high physical activity, binge drinking, 6.2%). To our knowledge, this is among the first research to examine complex lifestyle patterning among college youth, particularly with emphasis on the role of weight-related behaviors. These findings have important implications for targeting much needed health promotion strategies among emerging adults and college youth.

Objective To examine the prevalence of food insecurity and associations with health outcomes among college freshmen. Methods A diverse sample of freshmen (n=209) attending a large southwestern university and living in campus residence halls completed online surveys; anthropometrics were measured by trained staff. Using mixed logistic regression, associations were examined between food insecurity and health outcomes, adjusting for sociodemographics and clustering of students within residence halls. Results Food insecurity was prevalent, with 32% reporting inconsistent access to food in the past month and 37% in the past three months. Food insecure freshmen had higher odds of depression (OR=2.97; 95% CI=1.58, 5.60) compared to food secure students. Food insecure freshmen had significantly lower odds of eating breakfast, consuming home-cooked meals, perceiving their off-campus eating habits to be healthy, and receiving food from parents, (p<0.05). Conclusions Interventions are needed to support students struggling with food insecurity, as it is related to health outcomes.

Objectives To examine whether involvement in food preparation tracks over time, between adolescence (15–18 years), emerging adulthood (19–23 years), and the mid-to-late twenties (24–28 years), as well as examine 10-year longitudinal associations between home food preparation, dietary quality and meal patterning. Design Population-based, longitudinal cohort study. Setting Participants were originally sampled from Minnesota public secondary schools (USA). Subjects Participants enrolled in Project EAT (Eating Among Teens)-I, EAT-II, and EAT-III (n=1,321). Results Most participants in their mid-to-late twenties reported an enjoyment of cooking (73% of males, 80% of females); however, few prepared meals including vegetables most days of the week (24% males, 41% females). Participants in their mid-to-late twenties who enjoyed cooking were more likely to have engaged in food preparation as adolescents and emerging adults (p<0.01); those who frequently prepared meals including vegetables were more likely to have engaged in food preparation as emerging adults (p<0.001), but not adolescents. Emerging adult food preparation predicted better dietary quality five years later in the mid-to-late twenties, including higher intakes of fruit, vegetables, dark green/orange vegetables, and less sugar sweetened beverage and fast food consumption. Associations between adolescent food preparation and later dietary quality yielded few significant results. Conclusions Food preparation behaviors appeared to track over time, and engagement in food preparation during emerging adulthood, but not adolescence, was associated with healthier dietary intake during the mid-to-late twenties. Intervention studies are needed to understand whether promoting healthy food preparation results in improvements in eating patterns during the transition to adulthood.

Objective-To explore how weekday and weekend sleep patterns are related to adolescent substance use, depressive symptoms, and school truancy. Methods-Self-report surveys of 242 youth (93.4% white, mean age 16.4 years).Results-Longer weekday sleep duration was inversely associated with depressive symptoms, past month alcohol use, and drunkenness. Later weekend bedtime and wake-times, compared to those of weekdays, were associated with increased substance use and truancy.Conclusions-Weekday sleep duration appears to be protective for substance use, depression and school truancy for teenagers. However, inconsistent sleep patterns between weekdays and weekends were associated with a range of markers for adolescent risk. Keywords adolescents; sleep; risk behaviors; depressive symptomsSleep may be particularly important during adolescence as this is a period of increased brain maturation. 1 Average sleep duration varies between pre-adolescents and adolescents, but optimal sleep time, in both groups, appears to be about 9 hours. 2,3 However, research suggests that adolescents typically do not get enough sleep, especially during the school week. 4,5 According to a 2006 report by the National Sleep Federation, only 20% of adolescents report getting 9 hours of sleep, and almost half report sleeping less than 8 hours on school nights. 6 One 6-year longitudinal study found that when pre-adolescents (varying in baseline age from 10 to 12) were allowed to sleep up to 10 hours, the amount they slept averaged 9.2 hours, and this sleep time did not vary across pubertal stage. 2,3 Additional research in the area has reported similar findings. 7 However, in transitioning to the teenage years, adolescents have been found to stay up later at night and sleep later in the morning than preAddress correspondence to Dr Pasch, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas, 1 University Station, D3700, Austin, TX 78712-0360. kpasch@mail.utexas.edu. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptAm J Health Behav. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 May 3. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript adolescents. 3,8 Though previous research has shown that teenagers may compensate for sleep lost during the weekday on the weekends, 5,7,9 this may not be enough.If adolescents are going to sleep later but still need to get up earlier for school, they may be running up a sleep debt, potentially putting them at risk for a multitude of negative outcomes 4,5 ; and different facets of "sleep" may have a unique impact on adolescent health, including sleep problems, sleep duration, and sleep patterns. Sleep problems refer to having trouble falling or staying asleep; sleep duration refers to the length of sleep; and sleep patterns refer to the times youth go to sleep and wake up and the consistency of those patterns across weekdays and weekends.Significant associations between adolescent risk behaviors, such as substance use, and overall sleep problems have been illustrated in both cross-sectional a...