Childhood obesity
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Pediatric obesity is a serious and prevalent problem. Smartphone technology, which is becoming increasingly available to children of diverse backgrounds, presents a unique opportunity to instill healthy behaviors before the onset of obesity. Past studies have examined the use of smartphone applications as tools of health behavior modification for adults. The present study examines the content of children's exercise and nutrition smartphone apps. ⋯ Current children's diet and exercise apps could be improved with increased adherence to expert-recommended guidelines, especially expert-recommended strategies.
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The Institute of Medicine noted that current food and beverage marketing practices promote unhealthful diets. However, little public health research has been conducted on food marketing directed toward adolescents, especially using caregiver- and adolescent-reported data. ⋯ Our study showed that adolescents reported lower frequency of food and beverage advertising exposure than their caregivers. Further research may be needed to verify self-reported exposure data on food and beverage advertising as a way to obtain data for use in research on its relationship with diet quality and obesity.
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Review Retracted Publication
Modeling potential effects of reduced calories in kids' meals with toy giveaways.
Given the large proportion of daily calories attributable to fast food, there is growing interest in considering whether ordinances that restrict calories in kids' meals with toy giveaways could avert weight gain among children. ⋯ Our model indicates that a reduction in calories in kids' meals with toy giveaways has the potential to positively affect weight gain in a considerable percentage of children. Limitations of the model are considered.