Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Department

Animal and Nutritional Sciences

Committee Chair

Melissa D. Olfert

Committee Co-Chair

Sue Flanagan

Committee Member

Amy E. Root

Abstract

Objective: The pilot study objective is to determine if blood pressure (BP) and perception of quality of life (QoL) in 9-10 y/o youth changes after a 12 week 6-session program focusing on culinary skills, family mealtime and physical activity. Methods: Pre-post treatment only assessments were collected at 0 and 4 months for child/adult dyads (n=49 dyads). Five states (ME, NE, SD, TN, WV) recruited and delivered 6 sessions every two weeks that focused on increasing cooking skills, family mealtime, and physical activity. During BP assessments, each child had an initial rest of 5 min with 2 min rest between measurements using a digital Omron BP machine with averages recorded. The Peds-QL tool assessed perceived QoL in youth related to their functioning physically, emotionally, and socially. Results: At baseline, 93% (n=45) of participants had normal BP and 6% (n=3) were pre-hypertensive. At 4-month post assessment (n=43), 91% (n=39) had normal BP and 7% (n=4) were pre-hypertensive. Significant differences were seen in QoL between pre and post-measurements (mean difference = -0.284; p<0.01), indicating the perception of QoL increased. No correlations were seen between QoL and BP at pre- or post-test. Conclusions and Implications: While BP varied little from pre to post, QoL increased over the 4 month pilot study. However, based on findings, there was no correlation between BP and QoL, and the increase in QoL was not reflected in BP. Increased QoL could have a positive effect on systemic responses such as BP, but since most youth had normal BP, little effect would be expected.

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