Using Family Backpacks as a Tool to Involve Families in Teaching Young Children About Healthy Eating

Children’s obesity rates have increased substantially over the past several decades, due in part to unhealthy eating habits. About 75% of preschool-aged children consume fewer fruits and vegetables than recommended for health. Because children begin developing eating habits during early childhood, obesity prevention programs are increasingly targeting young children in early childhood education (ECE) settings and are involving their families in teaching about healthy eating. The purpose of this pilot study is to assess the effectiveness of a family involvement activity known as the family backpack in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among 4- and 5-year-old children and their parents through hands-on activities that encourage them to explore and discuss fruits and vegetables at home. Forty-two families (22 experimental, 20 control) participated in the study. Families received a family backpack from their child’s ECE teacher and completed activities with their child at home during a specific week. Experimental-group backpacks contained a children’s book and three activities to encourage parent–child discussion about fruits and vegetables; control-group backpacks contained an unrelated book and activities. Children’s and parents’ fruit and vegetable consumption and frequency of serving fruits and vegetables at home were assessed using parent self-report surveys before and after completing backpack activities. Parents in the experimental group, but not the control group, reported increases in their own and their children’s fruit and vegetable consumption after completing family backpack activities. Family backpacks show promise as a tool for early childhood educators to help families reinforce and expand children’s learning and encourage healthy eating habits at home.     

A Methylome‐Wide Association Study of Trajectories of Oppositional Defiant Behaviors and Biological Overlap With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

In 671 mother–child (49% male) pairs from an epidemiological birth cohort, we investigated (a) prospective associations between DNA methylation (at birth) and trajectories (ages 7–13) of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and the ODD subdimensions of irritable and headstrong; (b) common biological pathways, indexed by DNA methylation, between ODD trajectories and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); (c) genetic influence on DNA methylation; and (d) prenatal risk exposure associations. Methylome‐wide significant associations were identified for the ODD and headstrong, but not for irritable. Overlap analysis indicated biological correlates between ODD, headstrong, and ADHD. DNA methylation in ODD and headstrong was (to a degree) genetically influenced. DNA methylation associated with prenatal risk exposures of maternal anxiety (headstrong) and cigarette smoking (ODD and headstrong).     

How gender is constructed and experienced in the social world of the nursery school

This case study attempts to capture the way gender is constructed and experienced in the social world of the nursery school. It presents findings from a staff survey, structured and unstructured observations of one male’s and one female’s professional practice and one-to-one interviews with children aged three to four years. Despite practitioners’ reported intentions to challenge traditional notions of gender, construction of traditional gender distinctions was not problematised by staff and was upheld by comments of children. Children appeared to construct themselves in terms of gender stereotypes and were offered only limited alternative gender positions by the male and female practitioners.     

Decreasing “obscene” language of behaviorally disordered children through the use of a DRL schedule

The purpose of the present study was to determine the value of DRL schedules in reducing the behavior of a group of behaviorally disordered children. During the DRL procedure, reinforcement was made available for inappropriate language that was less than a prescribed limit for each day. When the DRL limit was successively decreased across weeks, the behavior of the students systematically decreased. Data indicated that reinforcing low rates of behavior may be an effective alternative to the use of aversive contingencies to reduce the misbehavior of such children.     

But I like PE: factors associated with enjoyment of physical education class in middle school girls

The current study examined associations between physical education (PE) class enjoyment and sociodemographic, personal, and perceived school environment factors among early adolescent girls. Participants included 1,511 sixth-grade girls who completed baseline assessments for the Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls, with 50% indicating they enjoyed PE class a lot. Variables positively associated with PE class enjoyment included physical activity level, perceived benefits of physical activity, self-efficacy for leisure time physical activity, and perceived school climate for girls' physical activity as influenced by teachers, while body mass index was inversely associated with PE class enjoyment. After adjusting for all variables in the model, PE class enjoyment was significantly greater in Blacks than in Whites. In model testing, with mutual adjustment for all variables, self-efficacy was the strongest correlate of PE class enjoyment, followed by perceived benefits, race/ethnicity, and teachers' support for girls' physical activity, as compared to boys, at school. The overall model explained 11% of the variance in PE class enjoyment. Findings suggest that efforts to enhance girls' self-efficacy and perceived benefits and to provide a supportive PE class environment that promotes gender equality can potentially increase PE class enjoyment among young girls.