Contemporary Issues in Health and Exercise

HPP301 Week Thirteen

Learning Outcomes
Application of psychological theory within a contemporary issue Analysis of a contemporary issue through SDT Essay assignments
Tuesday 8th May Deadline

Childhood Obesity
Discuss this issue in a pair Perform a brief A-B-C analysis of the issue What is your opinion on the:
Antecedents Behaviours Consequences

What do you think is the answer?

Facts and Figures

Child Obesity Prevalence 2-15 Years: Health Survey for England

15.1 13.5 14.4 12.3 12.9

17.4 17.9 17.3 16.9 16.4 16.3 16.4 16.7

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Facts and Figures

National Child Measurement Programme 2010/2011 (BMI)
Obese

9.8%
Overweight

Obese

18.7%

13.3%
Underweight

0.9%

Reception
(aged 4-5 years)
Healthy weight

Overweight

14.6%

Year 6
(aged 10-11 years)
Healthy weight

76.0%
Underweight

65.4%

1.3%

Key Findings
Obesity among 210 year olds rose from 10.1% in 1995 to 14.4% in 2009 in the UK Indications that the previous upwards trend in child obesity may now be flattening out Too early to be certain of long-term change Obesity prevalence shows strong links with deprivation Boys from all minority groups are more likely to be obese than white British boys, as are girls from some groups (e.g. Mixed, Pakistani, Black and Bangladeshi) Potential interaction between deprivation and ethnicity, and between ethnicity and height (BMI)

Proximal Causes
Diet Physical Activity

Diet
Much data concerns fruit and vegetable intake Useful trend data but is not necessarily indicative of wider dietary patterns One in five children aged 515 met the five a day target in 2009 Average child ate 3 portions per day Rose from 11% to 22% between 2001 and 2009 Highest income bracket most likely to meet target Intake of saturated fat lower than previous years but remains higher than recommended (35%) Around two in three boys and three in four girls accurately report that five portions of fruit and vegetables should be consumed each day. However only 22% of boys and 21% of girls can correctly identify what a portion is

Measuring Diet
Many of the figures presented in this briefing are self reported figures
Use with caution as people may over or under report consumption of certain foods Desire to show socially desirable behaviour Inaccuracies in childrens recall Confusion or misunderstanding about portion size and content of foods Parents respond to questions if a child is under 12

Physical Activity
More boys (32%) than girls (24%) aged 215 years achieved an hour of moderate activity every day PA declines with age, accelerometer data show a substantial decrease in PA between ages 410 and 1115 years, with very low levels for girls PA related to household income
Lowest income bracket more likely to be active

Proportion of 516 y/o participating in 2 hours of PE at school p/w increased from 44% in 2003/04 to 86% in 2009/10

Measuring Physical Activity

What options do we have for measurement? Self-report
Questionnaire Diary

Objective
Pedometer Accelerometer

Measurement Issues
What are the advantages and disadvantages of these methods? Self-report
Subjective Social desirability

Objective
Specificity Influence

Distal Causes
Diet and physical activity
Is that a sufficient explanation of rising global levels of obesity and overweight?

What might this not explain? Discuss in pairs and feedback to the group

Problem Context
Human context
100 variables directly or indirectly influence energy balance, which can be broadly categorised into biology, food consumption and environment, physical activity and activity environment, individual psychology and societal influences complex web of societal and biological factors that have, in recent decades, exposed our inherent human vulnerability to weight gain Foresight Report (2007)

Intervention Approaches
Theoretical Options
Attitudinal
TOPB

Motivational
SDT

Stage-Based
TTM

Relevance of SDT Sub-Theories

Primary relevance is with the consideration of
CET BPNT OIT

This is typical with most issues Other sub-theories are typically there to account for individual differences in findings, rather than accounting for variances in averages

Motivational Approaches
Cognitive Evaluation Theory (Deci, 1975; Deci & Ryan, 1985) involves the processing of information concerning reward structures and teases apart intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to physical activity. Thus, it remains a viable theory for the study of motivational process in physical activity behaviour. Extending this perspective, and including the psychological needs of competence, autonomy and relatedness, Deci and Ryan (1985; 1991) propose Self-determination Theory, which is an important perspective for the study of motivation in physical activity. BPS (2011)

Cognitive Evaluation Theory

Consideration of the meaning of intrinsic and extrinsic split Obesity
Intrinsically motivate to eat? Extrinsically motivated to exercise (if at all)

How can we influence this? CET allows a consideration of the framework of the problem

Organismic Integration Theory

Divides the extrinsic consideration into specific regulations Permits the identification of the motivationness of the average client This then permits the nature of the intervention to be determined It helps us locate and improve our target group

Basic Psychological Needs Theory

This permits a consideration of the environment or climate considerations for intervention These are our tools by which to effect our intervention They permit the delivery of a holistic intervention Continued development of these aspects permit the maintenance of the target behaviour