Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

A major agenda item at this year's annual meeting was reviewing results from the survey polite test. Main items of discussion were development of the polite-test survey questions, the Principle Components Factor Analysis and development of proposed scales. After this discussion, considerable time was devoted to revising the parent survey and establishing a timeline for pilot testing the survey and for states to conduct the survey. Recruitment of subjects and administration of the survey received considerable discussion at the meeting. Another significant item discussed at the meeting was development of a revised project proposal and a request for an extension of the existing project because of the time needed to develop the adult MBQ. In particular, pilot testing indicated the modifications were needed before continuing with the survey. The group also devoted time to work on existing papers and to review proposed papers from research being conducted by W-1003. The Chair and Reporter of W-1003 for next year are Miriam Edlefson and Mary Cluskey, respectively. The date and location selected for next year's meeting is November 8-11, 2006 in Tucson, AZ.

During this past year members of W-1003 focused on the development of the parent MBQ survey and pilot testing that survey. Results of that pilot test indicated that some modifications were needed before the continuing with the collection of data. Those modifications were made during the committees annual meeting. Obtaining sufficient calcium during adolescence helps ensure adequate mineralization of the skeleton to ensure bone health later in life. National dietary intake data show that preadolescent children (10-13 years of age) are only getting about 60-80% of the calcium recommended. Research suggests that peak bone density can occur as early as age 16 for the hip and the early mid-twenties for other bones. Inadequate calcium intake during this critical transition period may increase the risk for osteoporosis later in life. Ten million individuals are estimated to have osteoporosis in the US while almost 34 million more are estimated to have low bone mass. In 2005, it was projected that the economic burden of incident osteoporotic fractures would be almost $17 billion and $209 billion over the next decade. Half of Americans older than 50 years will experience an osteoporotic-related fracture in their lifetime. This multistate project is actively examining parental factors such as knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and environment and their influence on calcium intake of children in early adolescence from race/ethnic groups most at risk for osteoporosis. During the past year, a parent motivator-barrier questionnaire (MBQ-P) was developed and tested to identify parental influences on child intake of calcium-rich foods. Cognitive-pretesting of questionnaire items was completed by 7 states with 32 parents. Pretest results were used to revise questionnaire items prior to pilot-testing. For the pilot-test, parents completed questionnaires on two occasions to establish test-retest reliability. Parent/child pairs also completed questionnaires under the same conditions projected for the final implementation of the survey. Pilot-test data from 124 parents were collected from 9 states and results were used to make significant changes to the draft questionnaire requiring another round of pilot-testing. Principal component analysis will assess the internal validity of the psychosocial scales identified by the parental questionnaire. Experts will review the questionnaire to establish construct validity. Revisions will be made to the MBQ-P based on pilot testing results prior to final implementation of the survey. Qualitative interview data collected in the past project year were also analyzed. Coded transcript segments were sorted using NVIVO software. Segments were analyzed using thematic content analysis procedures regarding influences of parental role modeling, expectations and meal patterns on calcium intake of preadolescent children. Results showed that regular meal patterns provided adequate opportunity for children to consume calcium-rich foods; however, snack foods often did not include calcium-rich foods. Most parents reported eating calcium-rich foods and drinking milk, thereby acting as role models for children. Parent-child conversations about food and health focused on the need to moderate or increase intake of specific foods such as milk. Parents used various strategies to help children eat healthy foods but had few expectations for children to eat specific foods or to drink milk with meals.

Curtis, C.S. Parent and Household Influences on Calcium Intake in Preadolescent Children in Arizona. MS Thesis. The University of Arizona. 163 pp. 2005. Diker, A., Auld, G., and W1003 Scientists. 2005. How NVivo can be used to reliably analyze large qualitative data sets. J. Nutr. Educ. Behav. 37[Suppl 1]:S59. Reicks, M., Goldberg, D., Edlefsen, M. 2005. Parental influences on intake of calcium-rich foods by preadolescent Hispanic, Asian and Non-Hispanic White children. FASEB J. 19(4):A460. Schoemer, S.L. Parental Influences and Their Role in Supplement and Calcium-Fortified Food Use in Preadolescents. MS Thesis. Michigan State University. 172 pp. 2005. Schoemer, S.L., Reckase, M.R., and Olson, B.E. 2005. Role of parental influence on barriers to calcium intake in preadolescents, specific to fortified foods and supplement use. J. Nutr. Educ. Behav. 37[Suppl 1]:S63. Steward, E. Familial Influence(s) on Preadolescent Milk Consumption in Asians and Hispanics. MS Thesis. University of California, Davis. 2005. Vue, H. Individual and Environmental Influences on Intake of Calcium-Rich Foods by Hmong Preadolescent Girls. MS Thesis. University of Minnesota. 143 pp. 2005. Vue, H., and Reicks, M. 2005. Individual and environmental influences on intake of calcium rich foods by Hmong preadolescent girls. FASEB J. 19(5):A977. Yang, J., Olson, B., Wang, C., W1003 Investigators, and Boushey, C.J. 2005. Use of dietary supplements among parents and their early adolescent child from Asian, Hispanic, and Non-Hispanic White families. FASEB J. 19(4):A428.