Measures of the food environment: A systematic review of the field, 2007-2015.

Technology offers the potential to objectively monitor people's eating and activity behaviors and encourage healthier lifestyles. BALANCE is a mobile phone-based system for long term wellness management. The BALANCE system automatically detects the user's caloric expenditure via sensor data from a Mobile Sensing Platform unit worn on the hip. Users manually enter information on foods eaten via an interface on an N95 mobile phone. Initial validation experiments measuring oxygen consumption during treadmill walking and jogging show that the system's estimate of caloric output is within 87% of the actual value. Future work will refine and continue to evaluate the system's efficacy and develop more robust data input and activity inference methods.

/pdf/balance-towards-a-usable-pervasive-wellness-application-with-4knqxfy6n5.pdf

BALANCE: towards a usable pervasive wellness application with accurate activity inference

Most American workplaces are smaller, with fewer than 1,000 employees. Many of these employees are low-wage earners and at increased risk for chronic diseases. Owing to the challenges smaller workplaces face to offering health-promotion programs, their employees often lack access to health-promotion opportunities available at larger workplaces. Many smaller employers do not offer health insurance, which is currently the major funding vehicle for health-promotion services. They also have few health-promotion vendors to serve them and low internal capacity for, and commitment to, delivery of on-site programs. The programs they offer, whether aimed at health promotion alone or integrated with health protection, are rarely comprehensive and are understudied. Research priorities for health promotion in smaller workplaces include developing programs feasible for the smallest workplaces with fewer than 20 employees. Policy priorities include incentives for smaller workplaces to implement comprehensive programs and an ongoing system for monitoring and evaluation.

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182416

Health promotion in smaller workplaces in the United States.

Introduction
Stress in numerous contexts may affect the risk for obesity through biobehavioral processes. Acute stress has been associated with diet and physical activity in some studies; the relationship between everyday stress and such behavior is not clear. The objective of this study was to examine associations between perceived stress, dietary behavior, physical activity, eating awareness, self-efficacy, and body mass index (BMI) among healthy working adults. Secondary objectives were to explore whether eating awareness modified the relationship between perceived stress and dietary behavior and perceived stress and BMI.

/pdf/perceived-stress-behavior-and-body-mass-index-among-adults-5czgnehqhx.pdf

Perceived stress, behavior, and body mass index among adults participating in a worksite obesity prevention program, Seattle, 2005-2007.

Objective

Examine longitudinal associations between sources of social support and social undermining for healthy eating and physical activity and weight change.



Methods

Data are from 633 employed adults participating in a cluster-randomized multilevel weight gain prevention intervention. Primary predictors included social support and social undermining for two types of behaviors (healthy eating and physical activity) from three sources (family, friends, and coworkers) obtained via self-administered surveys. The primary outcome (weight in kg) was measured by trained staff. Data were collected at baseline, 12 months, and 24 months. Linear multivariable models examined the association of support and social undermining with weight over time, adjusting for intervention status, time, gender, age, education, and clustering of individuals within schools.



Results

Adjusting for all primary predictors and covariates, friend support for healthy eating (β = −0.15), coworker support for healthy eating (β = −0.11), and family support for physical activity (β = −0.032) were associated with weight reduction at 24 months (P-values<0.05). Family social undermining for healthy eating was associated with weight gain at 24 months (β = 0.12; P = 0.0019).



Conclusions

Among adult employees, friend and coworker support for healthy eating and family support for physical activity predicted improved weight management. Interventions that help adults navigate family social undermining of healthy eating are warranted.

/pdf/influence-of-family-friend-and-coworker-social-support-and-2fffvb75sp.pdf

Influence of family, friend and coworker social support and social undermining on weight gain prevention among adults

Objective: Based on previous worksite-wide intervention studies and an ecological framework, we created a behavioral intervention program to maintain or reduce weight through healthy eating and physical activity. The design and evaluation plan of the group-randomized trial and the recruitment of worksites are described. Preliminary results regarding the dietary and physical activity behaviors associated with BMI are discussed.



Research Methods and Procedures: The intervention used an ecological framework modified by qualitative methods that identified salient barriers and facilitators of behavioral change. Approximately 30 transportation, manufacturing, utilities, personal, household, and miscellaneous service companies in the greater Seattle area are being recruited to the trial. The study population for the present analysis consists of 18 worksites from the first two randomization waves. Dietary behavior was assessed, not by calories, but by behavioral measures related to BMI. Physical activity behaviors were surveyed. BMI is derived from reported height and weight at baseline.



Results: The intervention has been developed with a specified minimum suite of strategies within the defined framework. Response rates to the baseline survey among the 18 worksites are 81% on average. After adjusting for age, gender, race, and education, BMI was associated with frequency of intensity-adjusted physical activity, sweat-inducing exercise, fast food meals, soft drinks, eating while doing another activity, and fruit and vegetable intake.



Discussion: Worksite-wide intervention strategies can be adapted to target obesity prevention. Employees are willing to participate in surveys at high rates. Several measures of physical activity and eating choices are associated with baseline BMI.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1038/oby.2007.383

Worksite study promoting activity and changes in eating (PACE): design and baseline results.

Objective:To evaluate changes in the worksite environment in response to a multilevel intervention over a 2-year period.Methods:Worksites were recruited in the greater Seattle area, and 34 were randomized to intervention or comparison condition. The intervention was based on the ecological model, wi

/pdf/environmental-assessment-at-worksites-after-a-multilevel-24afw2kp8o.pdf

Environmental Assessment at Worksites After a Multilevel Intervention to Promote Activity and Changes in Eating: The PACE Project

Purpose. To identify factors related to formation, participation, and characteristics of employee advisory boards (EABs) in blue-collar worksites. Design. This study used a nonexperimental qualitative design to assess EAB formation, activity, and enthusiasm levels and examined those factors relative to employee participation in worksite-wide health promotion activities. Setting. Twenty-two blue-collar worksites with a total of 113 EAB members in the greater Seattle area. Subjects. Individuals who agreed to serve on EABs in the intervention worksites. Intervention. Participants received training in involving employees in the 5-A-Day project intervention activities. Measures. Measures include type of worksite, number of EAB members, method of EAB recruitment, and variables describing EAB functioning, including attendance at meetings, assistance at project activities, and level of enthusiasm. Results. All worksites formed EABs. There was no association between the way the EAB was formed and subseque...

Briana West

Papers

Worksite study promoting activity and changes in eating (PACE): design and baseline results.

Environmental Assessment at Worksites After a Multilevel Intervention to Promote Activity and Changes in Eating: The PACE Project

Factors related to participatory employee advisory boards in small, blue-collar worksites.