An Obesity Risk Assessment Tool for Young Children: Validity With BMI and Nutrient Values

作者：Townsend Marilyn S^*; Shilts Mical K; Styne Dennis M; Drake Christiana; Lanoue Louise; Ontai Lenna

来源：Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2018, 50(7): 705-717.

DOI：10.1016/j.jneb.2018.01.022

• evaluation
• obesity
• overweight
• preschool
• risk assessment

Objective: Demonstrate validity and reliability for an obesity risk assessment tool for young children targeting families' modifiable home environments.
Design: Longitudinal design with data collected over 100 weeks.
Setting: Head Start and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
Participants: Parent-child pairs (n = 133) provided food behavior assessments; 3 child-modified, 24-hour dietary recalls; 3 >= 36-hour activity logs; and measured heights and weights.
Main Outcome Measure: Five measures of validity and 5 of reliability.
Results: Validity was excellent for the assessment tool, named Healthy Kids, demonstrating an inverse relationship with child body mass index percentile-for-age (P = .02). Scales were significantly related to hypothesized variables (P <= .05): fruit or vegetable cup equivalents; folate; vitamins A, C, and D; (beta-carotene; calcium; fiber; sugar; screen, sleep, and physical activity minutes; and parent behaviors. Measures of reliability were acceptable.
Conclusions and Implications: Overall, children with higher Healthy Kids scores had a more healthful profile as well as lower body mass index percentiles-for-age 1.5 years later. Healthy Kids has potential for use by nutrition professionals as a screening tool to identify young children most at risk for excess weight gain, as an evaluation to assess intervention impact, and as a counseling tool to tailor intervention efforts. Future research should include validation in other settings and with other populations.

• 出版日期2018-8