title: Assessing media access and use among Latina adolescents to inform development of a physical activity promotion intervention incorporating text messaging.
abstract: Increasing physical activity (PA) during preadolescence and adolescence is critical to reversing the obesity epidemic. A recent report described the promising role of eHealth--the use of new media for purposes of health promotion--in reducing and preventing childhood obesity. This study assessed access/use of various media (cell phones, computers, gaming systems, Internet) among adolescent Latino girls and examined the relationship between PA and media access/use. A convenience sample of 110 Latino girls ages 11 to 14 was recruited from Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas and other groups. The media survey was self-administered (April-July 2010) on personal digital assistants. Of the girls, 55% reported owning a cell phone and spending 40 (SD = 4.2) hours per week talking, texting, listening to music, and browsing the Internet. Cell phone access increased significantly with age (p = .029). Compared to those with no cell phone, girls with a cell phone have greater odds of reporting more than 5 days of PA in the past week (odds ratio = 5.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.1, 14) and engaging in daily physical education classes (odds ratio = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.1, 5.9). Since girls with cell phones report greater PA, cell phones may be an effective strategy for communicating with girls about engaging in PA.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA mojicac@uthscsa.edu.
authors.forename: Cynthia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mojica
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Parra-Medina
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Zenong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Akopian
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Esparza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D040421:Cell Phone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008402:Mass Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013781:Texas; D060145:Text Messaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Latino; child/adolescent health; chronic disease; community intervention; exercise; minority health; obesity; physical activity