Evaluation of About Being Active, an online lesson about physical activity shows that perception of being physically active is higher in eating competent low-income women

Abstract

BackgroundEating competence (EC) has been associated with positive health outcomes such as reduced cardiovascular risk and higher diet quality. This study compared reported physical activity and EC in 512 low-income women participating in an online program that included a physical activity lesson and assessed response to this lesson.MethodsEducational intervention and surveys were completed online. EC was assessed with the Satter Eating Competence Inventory for Low-Income (ecSI/LI).ResultsParticipants were mostly white, <31 years, overweight/obese (60%), and food insecure (58%). EC was higher for those who self-reported being physically active (30.1 ± 8.3 vs. 24.9 ± 8.1; P<0.001) and were active for ≥ 30 minutes/day (29.9 ± 8.3 vs. 26.3 ± 8.6), even with age, weight satisfaction, and BMI controlled. EC of obese physically active persons was higher than normal weight, but physically inactive women. The physical activity module was well received with responses unrelated to time involved or physical activity level.ConclusionsLow-income women were interested in learning about physical activity and responded positively to online delivery. Overall EC levels were low, but higher for physically active women, supporting efforts to enhance EC. Additional research is needed to determine if EC is associated with responses to physical activity education.

Purposive Facebook Recruitment Endows Cost-Effective Nutrition Education Program Evaluation

“…Each Facebook campaign recruited a low-income sample similar in age, BMI, EC (overall and component constructs), level of worry about money for food [12,15,21,33,34], and food preparation habits [12] to those recruited for other nutrition education studies. Program evaluation was not superficial: 44% (21/48) of WI and 15% (11/73) of FA evaluators viewed the program more than once, completion rates were high ( WI : 47/62, 76%; FA : 73/77, 95%), and useful program improvement comments were provided.…”

“…The survey set included the Satter Eating Competence Inventory for Low-Income (ecSI/LI), a 16-item, validated measure to assess eating competence (EC) [15]. EC refers to an intra-individual approach to eating and food-related behavior [16] that has been associated with several positive health outcomes, including less disordered eating [17], fewer cardiovascular risk factors [18,19], higher dietary quality [19,20], and greater physical activity [21]. ecSI/LI response options ranged from never or rarely (0 points) to always (3 points) so that the total score possible ranges from 0 to 48.…”

About Eating: An Online Program With Evidence of Increased Food Resource Management Skills for Low-Income Women

“…5 WebHealth's body image and size perception lessons were initially evaluated through face-to-face cognitive interviews with 24 low-income women from 3 geographically disparate settings. Criteria for participation included having access to the Internet, being female, between aged 18-45 years, being healthy with no chronic disease or condition (eg, diabetes, cancer, weight loss surgery), being English literate, and having been recruited from a low-income venue (eg, food pantry, job training center, housing assistance office, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children clinic).…”

“…1 Eating competence is associated with greater dietary quality, 2,3 reduced cardiovascular risk, 3,4 increased physical activity, 5 fewer symptoms of disordered eating, including weight satisfaction and normal body mass index, [6][7][8][9] better sleep quality, 10 and parent modeling healthful eating behaviors. 11 Satter offered descriptions of ecSatter-driven nutrition education and guidance for adoption, 12 and nutrition education programs congruent with ecSatter have been suggested.…”

The Satter Eating Competence Inventory for Low-income persons is a valid measure of eating competence for persons of higher socioeconomic position

“…Health and nutrition professionals are interested in identifying and tracking eating competence because it appears to be a global construct related to many indicators of health and well being. Eating competence is associated with positive parent feeding practices for school age (Lohse & Cunningham-Sabo, 2012) and preschool children (Tylka, Eneli, VanDiest, & Lumeng, 2013), a normal BMI, weight satisfaction, fewer cognitive behaviors associated with disordered eating (Brown, Larsen, Myland, & Eggett, 2014;Clifford, Keeler, Gray, Steingrube, & Morris, 2010;Krall & Lohse, 2011;Lohse, Satter, Horacek, Gebreselassie, & Oakland, 2007), being physically active (Lohse, Arnold, & Wamboldt, 2013), lower cardiovascular risk Psota, Lohse, & West, 2007), and better sleep quality (Quick et al, 2013). Competent eaters have higher diet quality (Lohse, Bailey, Krall, Wall, & Mitchell, 2012), including adherence to a Mediterranean Diet , and more food resource management skills (Patterson, Arnold, & Lohse, 2012).…”