Division of Endocrinology, Scott & White Healthcare, The Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, 2401 South 31st Street, Temple, TX 76508, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2012 Apr;9(4):1319-25. doi: 10.3390/ijerph9041319. Epub 2012 Apr 16.
The prevalence of early childhood obesity has increased dramatically particularly among the Mexican American population. Obesity leads to earlier onset of related diseases such as type 2 diabetes. The Head Start population of Texas is largely Mexican American. Dietary intake in this population demonstrated a diet very low in fiber, high in salt, and containing excessive calories with a low intake of fruit and vegetables. This study was performed in a Texas Head Start population to evaluate a bilingual pictorial nutrition education game. Acceptance of the bilingual concept and the game had been previously studied in a Head Start population in five Texas counties. The effectiveness in producing a change in eating habits was studied as a pilot project 413 children and their parents at the Bastrop County Head Start. Parents were asked to supply data about at home food frequency at the beginning and the end of the school year and the results compared. The parents were given a demonstration of the educational objectives and the students played the game throughout the year. By the end of the school year there was a statistically significant increase in the vegetables offered to this population both during the week at home (p = 0.009) and on the weekends (p = 0.02).
儿童期肥胖症的患病率显著增加，尤其是在墨西哥裔美国人中。肥胖会导致 2 型糖尿病等相关疾病的发病年龄提前。德克萨斯州的“Head Start”项目人群主要是墨西哥裔美国人。该人群的饮食摄入显示出纤维含量低、盐含量高、卡路里含量过高、水果和蔬菜摄入量低的特点。本研究在德克萨斯州的“Head Start”项目人群中进行，以评估一种双语图片营养教育游戏。双语概念和游戏的接受度此前已在德克萨斯州五个县的“Head Start”项目人群中进行了研究。该研究作为试点项目，在巴斯特罗县“Head Start”项目中对 413 名儿童及其家长进行了饮食习惯改变效果的研究。研究开始和结束时，家长被要求提供有关家庭食物频率的数据，并对结果进行比较。家长们接受了教育目标的演示，学生们则在整个学年中玩游戏。在学年结束时，该人群在家中（p=0.009）和周末（p=0.02）提供的蔬菜数量均有统计学意义的增加。
