Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The 2017 W3003 annual meeting was held on Wed 03/15/2017 to Sat 03/18/2017 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (as well as the New Otani Kaimana Hotel in Honolulu), which was the home university to the 2016 chair - Jinan Banna.

The following list includes the main accomplishments of this year’s annual W3003 meeting:

1. We reviewed findings from the pilot study data collection for Objective 1. Members of the team at the various locations each collected data from approximately 5 parent-child dyads this past year and we ended up with a dataset that included information from 50 families (100 individuals).  Using these data, we organized into several groups to assess the different types of data collected and begin working on manuscripts in subgroups, as well as coding the data to develop the surveys that will be used in Objective 2. The quantitative data (survey responses, anthropometrics, and context around child eating occasion photos) group consisted of Rickelle Richards, Blake Jones, and Kay Hongu. The Methods group (took the lead in writing the methods section for manuscripts) consisted of Lillie Monroe-Lord, Prema Gangana, Alex Anderson, and Karina Lora. The qualitative group (parent and child interview data) consisted of Glade Topham, Mary Cluskey, Martha Reicks, and Carolyn Gunther. Jinan Banna and Siew Sun Wong were both absent due to health issues, but will also help with the qualitative group going forward. Scottie Misner was present at the meeting and took notes for all of the groups. She will now be retiring from the group.
2. We revised the recruitment grid for objective 2 to add new members, and stratify not only by child race/ethnicity, but also sex of child.  Each member is expected to recruit up to 40 parent-child dyads, for a total of up to 480 families.  We also assigned site and participant ID numbers (to be used in the Objective 2 study) and developed a data management plan.
3. The study timeline was reviewed and modified:
   • April to July 2017 — Survey development (based on qualitative interviews and feedback from parents)
   • August 2017 — Pilot testing new surveys
   • September 2017 to January 2018 — Data collection for Objective 2
   • January 2018 — Data entry
   • February to March 2018 — Data cleaning
   • March 2018 — Annual meeting, and analyze data
   • 2017 to 2018 — Objectives 2 & 3
   • 2018 to 2019 — Objective 4, develop next multistate proposal
4. W3003 group bylaws, which outlines member expectations, was developed referencing the bylaws document from the previous W2003 project
5. Topics for papers from Objective 1 were discussed and writing groups were assigned to 8 specific papers that we are working on for publication. Each of these papers are assigned to a primary first author, with small subgroups assigned to help with analyses and writing.
6. We discussed developing a USDA AFRI proposal (to be submitted in the upcoming call for applications). The topic would align directly with the W3003 project.
7. Members nominated Blake Jones (Chair), Glade Topham (Chair-Elect), and Karina Lora (Secretary) to serve in leadership positions for the 2017-18 term. Jinan Banna will serve as Past Chair.  The next annual meeting is scheduled for the University of Georgia from March 21-24, 2018. Alex Anderson will serve as meeting host and Glade Topham will chair the 2018 meeting.

Accomplishments for 2016-2017

Background There is limited evidence about how adolescents eat when they are making food choices without the direct influence of their parents, who are primary influencers of their choices and consumption behavior as children (Savage et al., 2007). US children and adults are consuming food more frequently throughout the day and more at each occasion (Popkin and Duffey, 2010); a rise that parallels the rise in obesity and increases in portion sizes (Piernas and Popkin, 2011). That consumption is occurring as primary eating or meal occasions but increasingly as secondary eating which may or may not be mealtime eating. Additionally, while evidence shows that most families (58%) consume about 5 or more meals/week together, (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), 2011), others report the percentage consuming shared family meals decreases among lower SES groups (Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2013). The 1994-96 CFSII data reveal a mean of 4.5 daily eating occasions/day (Ritchie, 2012). Adolescents (10-13 years old) who are at the age of becoming more independent are likely making food choice decisions on their own at some of those other daily eating occasions. However, frequency of eating and snacking are both increasing and what and how much food adolescents choose and consume when they are outside of their parental influence is not known. The work exploring parental practices and their impact on children’s intakes, weight and eating behaviors is not well established. In particular, a focus on what occurs in those occasions when the child is making independent choices and not in the presence of the parent needs more clarity. What strategies do parents use to model healthy food intake? How can the behavior of modeling or creating rules and expectations be measured and how do those behaviors impact children’s food intake? How often do early adolescents make independent food choices and are there parental expectations for choices that they make? How compliant are they with their parental rules? How do role modeling, food choice rules or expectations and food availability translate into food choices when a child is on their own or with peers or siblings at an eating occasion? How can parents be more motivated and overcome the barriers they perceive to practicing positive eating related parental behaviors? Having a greater understanding of this phenomenon fosters the ability to communicate and promote effective practices and strategies to parents for managing healthy eating among their youth.

 Project Objectives 1. Explore and identify key parental practices (role modeling, making healthy foods available, and setting rules/expectations and other practices) that may impact eating behaviors and food choices during independent eating occasions and weight among low-income, multi-ethnic early adolescents. 2. Examine the association between key parental practices and positive eating behaviors during independent eating occasions among low-income, multi-ethnic early adolescents 3. Examine the association between key parental practices and early adolescents’ weight. 4. Develop communications for parents and nutrition professionals

 Main Accomplishments for 2016-2017  The main accomplishment of the 2016-2017 of the W3003 group was collecting the pilot data for Objective 1. The various sites each collected data from approximately 5 parent-child dyads, including parent surveys, child surveys, anthropometric measurements (heights, weights, waist circumferences), parent interviews, and child interviews. This yielded an initial sample of over 50 parent-child dyads, with rich, in-depth data from interviews and pictures of foods eaten, as well as surveys and objective anthropometric measurements. Progress on this task was facilitated through monthly conference calls in which we reviewed IRB approval processes, and data collection progress, discussed and worked to resolve issues, and devised ‘next steps.’  The work invested in developing and testing the protocols has positioned us to launch data collection for Objective 1 with a seamless approach that will enhance our data collection efforts. 

 At the 2017 annual meeting, we organized all of our data files from Objective 1 and put them into a master file. We discussed data collection challenges and issues that came up, as well as specific data from both the qualitative and quantitative datasets. We broke up into groups to begin coding the data and looking for themes to help develop our Objective 2 surveys that we are working on now. We made decisions on the details for the Objective 2 study (revised recruitment grid, assigned site and participants ID numbers, developed data management plan), reviewed and revised the study timeline, and developed an outline for 8 new manuscripts (and accompanying writing groups) that will come from Objective 1.  We also strategized a plan to submit a USDA AFRI grant, reviewed the W3003 bylaws, and elected the new 2017-18 leadership.

 In addition, with Scottie Misner retiring from the group and having several other members choose to withdraw (such as Ruth Litchfield, William Rice, and Alyssa McElwain) we will likely seek to add a couple of replacements to the group. One example of this is the addition of Vanessa da Silva (at the University of Arizona, where Scottie Misner is located). Dr. da Silva is an Extension Specialist and will work with the group going forward. 

Banna JC, Reicks M, Gunther C, Richards R, Bruhn C, Cluskey M, Wong SS, Misner S, Hongu N, Johnston NP. (2016). Evaluation of emotion-based messages designed to motivate Hispanic and Asian parents of early adolescents to engage in calcium-rich food and beverage parenting practices. Nutr Res Pract. 10:456-463.

Martinez Y, Bellajos M, Bruhn C, Cluskey M, Gunther C, Hongu, N, Johnston P, Misner S, Reicks M, Richards R, Wong SS, Banna JC. (2016). Evaluation of messages to promote intake of calcium-rich foods in early adolescents. J Community Engagement and Scholarship. 9:109-119.