Preschoolers' selective sustained attention and numeracy skills and knowledge.

This brief report addresses preschoolers' selective sustained attention (SSA) and early numeracy skills and knowledge. Past research indicates that children's attention and early numeracy are positively associated, yet some concerns have emerged about the age appropriateness of tools used to measure preschoolers' SSA. This study used a new measure-the Track-It Task-that demonstrates strong psychometric properties. In total, 31 at-risk preschoolers (Mage = 46.6 months) participated and were assessed on SSA, nonsymbolic quantity discrimination, and symbolic quantitative skills and knowledge. The ability to sustain attention in the face of distractions was positively correlated with preschoolers' verbal counting and one-to-one correspondence, Arabic numeral recognition, and cardinal principle knowledge. SSA was not significantly associated with child age or performance on a memory task. This study provides preliminary evidence that SSA may facilitate the process whereby young children become reliable counters and learn that the symbol system of numbers represents specific quantities.

Children, youth, and parents: screening for obesity risk with the spectrum of physical activity.

The current article reviews several practical approaches to screening for obesity risk among children and youth, with an emphasis on the spectrum of physical activity. We encourage physicians to utilize evidence-based strategies (e.g., 5-2-1-0), implement motivational interviewing techniques, and focus on "crunch time" (i.e., the period of day after school and before bedtime) when gathering information about physical activity type and intensity. The insights gained are useful for evaluating obesity risk and establishing goals for lifestyle interventions. Characteristics of successful interventions with youth are also discussed and include goal-setting, self-monitoring, and pedometers.

Predicting weight status stability and change from fifth grade to eighth grade: the significant role of adolescents' social-emotional well-being.

PURPOSE: The primary objective of this study was to predict weight status stability and change across the transition to adolescence using parent reports of child and household routines and teacher and child self-reports of social-emotional development. METHODS: Data were from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), a nationally representative sample of children who entered kindergarten during 1998-1999 and were followed through eighth grade. At fifth grade, parents reported on child and household routines and the study child and his/her primary classroom teacher reported on the child's social-emotional functioning. At fifth and eighth grade, children were directly weighed and measured at school. Nine mutually-exclusive weight trajectory groups were created to capture stability or change in weight status from fifth to eighth grade: (1) stable obese (ObeSta); (2) obese to overweight (ObePos1); (3) obese to healthy (ObePos2); (4) stable overweight (OverSta); (5) overweight to healthy (OverPos); (6) overweight to obese (OverNeg); (7) stable healthy (HelSta); (8) healthy to overweight (HelNeg1); and (9) healthy to obese (HelNeg2). RESULTS: Except for breakfast consumption at home, school-provided lunches, nighttime sleep duration, household and child routines did not predict stability or change in weight status. Instead, weight status trajectory across the transition to adolescence was significantly predicted by measures of social-emotional functioning at fifth grade. CONCLUSIONS: Assessing children's social-emotional well-being in addition to their lifestyle routines during the transition to adolescence is a noteworthy direction for adolescent obesity prevention and intervention.

Boys' and girls' weight status and math performance from kindergarten entry through fifth grade: a mediated analysis.

This study tests a mediated model of boys' and girls' weight status and math performance with 6,250 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Five data points spanning kindergarten entry (mean age=68.46 months) through fifth grade (mean age=134.60 months) were analyzed. Three weight status groups were identified: persistent obesity, later onset obesity, and never obese. Multilevel models tested relations between weight status and math performance, weight status and interpersonal skills and internalizing behaviors, and interpersonal skills and internalizing behaviors and math performance. Interpersonal skills mediated the association between weight status and math performance for girls, and internalizing behaviors mediated the association between weight status and math performance for both sexes, with effects varying by group and time.

Television watching and frequency of family meals are predictive of overweight onset and persistence in a national sample of school-aged children.

OBJECTIVE: To identify eating and activity factors associated with school-aged children's onset of overweight and persistent overweight. DESIGN: Data were gathered at four time points between kindergarten entry and spring of third grade. Children were directly weighed and measured and categorized as not overweight (<95th percentile of body mass index) or overweight (> or =95th percentile body mass index); parents were interviewed by telephone or in person. SUBJECTS/SETTING: Subjects were participants in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, a nationally representative sample of children who entered kindergarten during 1998-1999. Children who weighed <2,000 g at birth, received therapeutic services before kindergarten, skipped or repeated a grade, or without complete height and weight data were excluded, resulting in 8,459 participants. Children with intermittent overweight were not examined (n=459); analyses addressed 8,000 children. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Three mutually exclusive groups of children were identified: never overweight, overweight onset, and persistent overweight. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Multilevel, multivariate logistic regression analyses estimated the effects of eating and activity factors on the odds of overweight onset and persistent overweight above child sex, race, and family socioeconomic status. RESULTS: Children who watched more television (odds ratio [OR] 1.02) and ate fewer family meals (OR 1.08) were more likely to be overweight for the first time at spring semester of third grade. Children who watched more television (OR 1.03), ate fewer family meals (OR 1.08), and lived in neighborhoods perceived by parents as less safe for outdoor play (OR 1.32) were more likely to be persistently overweight. Child aerobic exercise and opportunities for activity were not associated with a greater likelihood of weight problems. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports theories regarding the contributions of television watching, family meals, and neighborhood safety to childhood weight status. When working with families to prevent and treat childhood weight problems, food and nutrition professionals should attend to children's time spent with screen media, the frequency of family mealtimes, and parents' perceptions of neighborhood safety for children's outdoor play.