Mealtime Appetite Monitoring at a Camp for Overweight and Obese Youth Open Access

Abstract

Appetite monitoring (AM), a self-regulatory strategy that trains individuals to eat in response to appetite cues, has been reported to be highly acceptable by adults with eating pathology. Although food monitoring is practiced at several camps for overweight youth, this is the first study to implement and evaluate AM in a residential camp setting. Participants were 88 overweight and obese campers (ages 9-14) and their parents, and they received brief AM training at a pre-camp family weekend. Campers then engaged in mealtime AM practice throughout the 5-day residential camp. Campers and their parents completed questionnaires assessing attitudes towards and use of AM at camp and at home. The Appetite Awareness Scale for Children (AAS-C), a self-report measure of sensitivity to appetite cues, was used to assess improvements in appetite awareness with the AM practice. Implementing meal-based AM at a weight management camp was feasible, and the practice was rated by campers and their parents as acceptable, utilized, helpful, and remembered at follow-up. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the AAS-C were found to be acceptable. Significant improvement in AAS-C scores was demonstrated by the end of camp and maintained at follow-up. Overall, mealtime AM was shown to be a feasible and acceptable addition to a weight management camp for youth. The AAS-C was found to be a reliable measure and was responsive to appetite training. Although preliminary, these results suggest that mealtime AM is a feasible and acceptable self-regulatory strategy for overweight and obese youth and warrants further investigation.

Table of Contents

Introduction...................................1

Methods........................................5

Results.........................................9

Discussion...................................12

Conclusion...................................16

References..................................18

Appendix.....................................21

Figures and Tables........................22

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Psychology
Degree	MA
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Clinical
Keyword	obesity interventions weight management camps childhood obesity appetite monitoring
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Craighead, Linda, Emory University
Committee Members	Lourenco, Stella, Emory University Brennan, Patricia, Emory University

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