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Assessment

The assessments are completed at the beginning and end of the Bounce Lite Summer Program. The assessments conducted include demographic, clinical, fitness, and psychological surveys. These assessments are taken to ensure the safety of all our participants. For further information on these measures and for specific descriptions please see below.

Measures Checklist

Before the administration of any instrument, all mothers and daughters should sign an informed consent form.

Background Measures

Measures

Child

Demographic

Acculturation


Clinical Physical Measures

Anthropometric Height
Weight

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Blood Pressure

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Resting Heart Rate

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Waist-to-Hip Ratio  (WHR)

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Physical Activity / Aerobic Fitness

20 Meter Shuttle Run

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Accelerometer

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Flexibility (Sit & Reach)
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Nutrition/Psychological

Weight Concern/Weight Control

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Breakfast Survey
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DESCRIPTION OF MEASURES

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

buttonDemographic Form

This instrument assesses background characteristics of the participants such as age, gender, and parental occupation.

button  Acculturation

The Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanic Youth (SASH-Y)(Barona, & Miller, 1994) will be used to measure acculturation in terms of the children’s involvement in American culture. The scale that was adapted from the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (SASH-Y) to be used with middle school students is comprised of 12 items that assess extra-familial language use, familial language use, and ethnic and social relations in Hispanic youth. Items are rated on a five-point-likert scale and the acculturation score is obtained by summing the responses from each of the twelve items.  Higher scores indicate a more Americanized orientation, medium scores indicate a bicultural orientation, and low scores indicate an orientation towards the culture of origin.

 

CLINICAL MEASURES

button  Anthropometrical Measures

The weight and height of participants will be taken to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI).  Weight (to the nearest 0.5 lb.) will be assessed on a scale with participants wearing their street clothing without shoes or heavy garments such as sweaters and jackets.  Height (to the nearest 0.1 cm.) will be determined using a secured statiometer with the subject in the standard erect position and shoes and/or heavy garments will be removed.

button Blood Pressure/ Resting Heart Rate

The Blood Pressure and Resting Heart Rate of the participants will be measured using a digital BP-HR machine.

button Waist – to – Hip Ratio (WHR)

Test Objective:  The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) will be used as a method for determining the participant’s body fat pattern.  The child’s measurements will be taken using a non-stretchable measuring tape.  The waist will be measured at the smallest circumference between the rib cage and belly-button.  The hip will be measured at the widest part of the hip-buttocks region.

 

PHYSICAL FITNESS

button  20-Meter Shuttle Test (20-MST)

Test Objective:  To run as long as possible back and forth across a 20-meter space at a specified pace which gets faster each minute.  The first round allows 9 seconds for the children to get to the other side.  The speed increases each minute, therefore there is a decrease in time of ½ second each minute.

button Flexibility (Sit & Reach)

Test Objective: Farthest distance reached.  The Sit & Reach assessment will be used to measure the participant’s flexibility in their legs and back.  A specially constructed box with a measuring scale marked in centimeters, with 23 centimeters at the level of the feet.  Child removes shoes and sits on floor with knees fully extended, feet shoulder-width apart and soles of the feet held flat against the end of the box.  With hands on top of each other, palms down, and legs held flat, the child reaches along the measuring line as far as possible.

 

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

button  Accelerometers

Mini-Mitter Actiwatch accelerometers will be used to objectively assess physical activity. This omnidirectional accelerometer is built from a cantilevered rectangular piezoelectric bimorph plate and seismic mass, which is sensitive to movement in all directions. Previous studies have shown that objective monitoring devices can be successfully used in field studies involving children and adolescents (Coevering et al., 2005; Trost, et al., 2000). Consistent with these findings for this proposed study, we will record children’s typical physical activity during two continuous days. Research assistants will show each child individually how to affix the accelerometer on the right side of the body, at the iliac crest, using an elastic strap and plastic buckle.  Children will wear the accelerometers under clothing during the two-day testing period (including sleeping, except when showering or swimming).  Counts will be accumulated for 1-minute periods throughout the testing period. The data will be downloaded to a desktop computer via a serial port interface using proprietary software (Mini-Mitter). Once all data have been collected, activity counts will be converted to energy expenditure using the models developed by Puyau et al. (2002).  These models have shown high validity (R2 = 0.82) when identifying physical activity levels in children (Trost, et al., 2000).  Additional instructions are provided in appendix.

 

NUTRITION

button Weight Concern and Weight Control Behavior

Mothers and daughters will be asked to respond to questions designed to measure weight concerns and behaviors to lose weight or keep from gaining weight.  For instance, participants will be asked to respond to the question "During the past week, did you do any of the following things to lose weight?" This measure was adapted from the weight control measure developed by Boutelle et al. (2002).

button Breakfast Survey

This measurement assesses frequency and consumption of food and drink items during breakfast.

 

References