title: Exploring eating and activity behaviors with parent-child dyads using event history calendars.
abstract: Despite advances in science, the prevalence of childhood obesity persists and outcomes remain inconsistent. An event history calendar (EHC) is a tool to facilitate understanding of family life dynamics influencing eating and activity choices. This tool uses reflection to assess temporally linked behavior in the context of life events so that choices related to eating and activity are more explicit. Fourteen parent-child (6-14 years) dyads completed an EHC and interview 2 months following a healthy eating/activity intervention. Phenomenological analysis revealed themes including "awareness" of activity/eating behaviors, "healthy lessons," "family time," and "barriers" to change. The EHC facilitated participant communication and understanding by making connections between behaviors, habits, and events in family context, so that eating and activity behaviors could be realistically reviewed. This tool has potential to guide development of individualized interventions through barrier identification and goal establishment in research and clinical settings to help counteract childhood obesity over time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Development, School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. danfordc@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Cynthia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Danford
authors.forename: Kristy K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Martyn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise; D005192:Family Health; D005195:Family Relations; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D009765:Obesity / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control*; D036301:Qualitative Research
keywords: childhood obesity; event history calendar; family-focused assessment; parent–child dyads