Recent News

Cal Poly Study Finds Preschool Obesity Rates in SLO County Reflect National Trends

Apr 20, 2015

April 13, 2015

The percentage of preschool-aged children who are overweight or obese appears to be leveling off in San Luis Obispo County, according to a Cal Poly study, though the rate is still significant at more than 33%, or one in three children. These results reflect a nationwide trend that suggests childhood obesity rates have stopped rising.

Faculty and students in Cal Poly's Kinesiology Department partnered with the county Health Department, Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, and 29 preschools countywide to collect data. Their analysis found differences in obesity rates related to geography, household income, type of school, ethnicity, and language spoken at home.

 “We found that children in the South County had the highest overweight and obesity rate. They were 1.5 times more likely to be overweight or obese than children in the North County,” said Kris Jankovitz, kinesiology professor and faculty advisor for the project.

Though this study has been done periodically since 2006, this was the first time researchers collected income data. "Most of our findings were similar to other studies. Lower income children are more likely to be obese," said Trevor Curry, one of the graduate students running the study. Possible explanations for these differences include lack of access to healthy food and lack of education about how to eat a healthy diet.

An apparent disparity in the overweight and obesity rate based on type of school may actually be related to household income.  “Children attending Head Start preschools were 2.8 times more likely to be overweight or obese than children attending private preschools,” said Victoria Howarth, the second graduate student leading the study. “But when we controlled for income, low income kids in private preschools were significantly more likely to be obese than kids from higher income homes.”  

Hispanic children were significantly more likely to be overweight or obese than non-Hispanic White children, and those who spoke Spanish at home were at greater risk than those who spoke English at home.

In November, Curry and Howarth presented their findings to a countywide network of community groups focused on health. "It's great that students can help us understand the health of our community. When students collect data, make sense of it, and report it, the community can make changes," Jankovitz said. Since 2006 the Kinesiology Department has partnered with the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department to assess the weight status of more than 1,400 preschool children.

Changes being considered include a follow-up study to investigate what types of interventions are most effective, for example, implementing new snack policies or educating parents.

View more from the Kinesiology Department newsletter.

Professor Todd Hagobian Named American College of Sports Medicine Fellow

Apr 13, 2015

June 24, 2014

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly Kinesiology Professor Todd Hagobian has been named a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), one of the organization's highest honors. As a fellow, Hagobian will have the opportunity to work with prominent researchers, clinicians and policy-shapers in the field of sports medicine and exercise science.

"The greatest strength of ACSM is its diversity. The fellowship will allow me to work with people who are nationally recognized in a number of specialties  and collaborate with them on future research projects," Hagobian said. 

Hagobian hopes these partnerships will enrich opportunities for Cal Poly students. "I plan to bring projects here and include students," Hagobian said. "There are also high-caliber, research-focused institutions near us that we can collaborate with, which may lead to summer internships  for students." Hagobian named Stanford and UCLA as possible internship locations.

ACSM has 50,000 members, from a wide range of professions focused on exercise science, including doctors, scientists and personal trainers. Only 1,500 of the members are fellows. ACSM integrates scientific research with practice to make policy recommendations in the area of physical activity and health. The organization helped shape the U.S. government's first official physical activity recommendations. 

As a fellow, Hagobian will participate in these policy-related efforts and continue to contribute relevant research. 

Kinesiology Alumnus Leads Women's Youth National Water Polo Team to Gold Medal

Apr 13, 2015

Andrew Silva (back row, far right) and the USA Women's Youth National Water Polo Team following their gold medal victory in the
2014 UANA Junior Pan American Championship last summer.

Cal Poly alumnus Andrew Silva (B.A., Political Science, 2002; M.S., Kinesiology, 2010) picked up a gold medal last summer — as a coach. He helped lead the USA Women's Youth National Water Polo team to a first place finish in the 2014 Union Americana de Natacion Junior Pan American Championship.

"Winning was great. It was a great reward for the athletes," Silva said. "They worked tremendously hard. My fondest memory is the medal ceremony."

A San Luis Obispo native, Silva played water polo for San Luis High and went on to coach women's water polo at Division I Marist College in New York. Following a successful run at Marist that included a trip to the NCAA championship tournament in 2006, Silva decided to broaden his activities and teach as well as coach. He came back to Cal Poly for the master's degree he needed to make that transition.

He couldn't be happier with his decision. "I'm such an advocate for Cal Poly; it's difficult for me to express it," said Silva. "I saw the Learn by Doing mentality not only in the curriculum, but also in my professors. It made me a far more well-rounded coach than I was before I entered the program."

Now at Citrus Community College in Glendora, Calif., Silva fills a number of roles. He's the head coach for both women's water polo and women's swimming, as well as the aquatics director and a full-time faculty member in the Kinesiology Department.

"I was a community college student, and I really like working with students who didn't have the opportunity to immediately go to a four-year university but still want to earn a degree," Silva said. "They're in class because they want to be there, and I've found that to be extremely rewarding."

Silva's experience as a student and graduate assistant at Cal Poly still impacts his day-to-day life, whether he's considering how athletes learn motor skills while designing practice or setting team goals using sports psychology.

"I'm convinced that getting my master's and teaching at Cal Poly made me a better coach and professor," Silva said.

Cal Poly Study Sheds Light on Mothers' Bottle-Feeding Behavior

Apr 13, 2015

Parents who are bottle-feeding may be able to decrease their infants' risk for overfeeding simply by using a weighted, opaque bottle. In a Cal Poly study recently published in the journal Appetite, researchers found that the amount of infant formula some mothers fed their babies depended on whether the mothers could see and feel how full the bottle was.

The study was undertaken to test a widely held belief about the differences between breast-feeding and bottle-feeding. "There's been this belief that one of the benefits of breast-feeding, when compared to bottle-feeding, is how much information the mom receives," said Alison Ventura, the Cal Poly kinesiology professor who led the study. "Breast-feeding mothers can't see how much milk the infant gets and so have to respond to cues from the infant to know when he's full. Mothers using a bottle may be tempted to respond to bottle-based cues instead."

Feeding that is responsive to infant cues is important because infant overfeeding is widely recognized as a cause of excess weight gain in children 0-2 years old. Infants who gain too much weight are at risk for obesity and metabolic problems later in life.

Ventura's study is the first to test whether bottle-feeding mothers respond to bottle-based cues. Some of the mothers in the study reported that they usually try to get their infants to finish an entire bottle. The ones who reported they pressured their infants to finish a bottle fed their children less when they couldn't see or feel how full the bottle was. With these contextual cues removed, mothers were forced to respond to the infants’ cues that indicated they were full.

"There's been a greater recognition of how important the early post-natal period is," Ventura said. "If a mom has a hard time understanding her infants’ cues during these early periods, that can have long-lasting effects."

Based on the results of the study, Ventura recommends using an opaque bottle to increase parents' ability to feed their child an appropriate amount in response to infant cues.

Ventura recently received a $150,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to do a follow-up study with a larger population of mothers.

Links

A pilot study comparing opaque, weighted bottles with conventional, clear bottles for infant feeding, by AK Ventura and Golen R. Pollak, published in the Feb. 2015 edition of Appetite.

New Times Features STRIDE Healthy Beginnings Study

Feb 6, 2014

January 23, 2014

Professor Phelan and Professor Hagobian of the Kinesiology department have been featured in local newspaper New Times for their work with expectant mothers and their families. Their respective studies, Healthy Beginnings and Healthy Beginnings in Partners, strive to assess the impact of change in health and fitness for pregnant and postpartum mothers and their partners. 

Both professors wish to create a learning experience out of pregnancy, and instill a balanced and healthy lifestyle for all family members during and after pregnancy. 

Read the full article here. 

The New York Times - Physical Therapists Use Wii Golf to Treat Patients

Dec 12, 2013

The New York Times reports that use of the Nintendo Wii has become more than just a game for some physical therapists. Since issues with balance and movement are common concerns for patients recovering from brain injuries or strokes, utilizing the Wii through games like golf not only adds a practical element to recovery, but a fun one. If the game is an activity the patient enjoyed pre-injury, he or she will be more motivated to continue therapy. 

Read more about how physical therapists help patients

Professor Todd Hagobian Awarded $3.3 Million NIH Grant to Study Father's Health During Pregnancy

Nov 21, 2013

August 12, 2013

Contact: Todd Hagobian
805-756-7511; thagobia@calpoly.edu

Not many pregnancy studies focus on dads, but Cal Poly Kinesiology professor Todd Hagobian is changing that. Hagobian recently received a $3.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study whether the behavior of mothers who change their eating and exercise habits during pregnancy will rub off on fathers.

"Pregnancy is a teachable moment. Moms want to be healthy for the baby," Hagobian said. "We want to find out, is it actually a teachable moment for the dads, too?"

In 2011, Suzanne Phelan, also a professor in the Kinesiology Department, began a research intervention with obese moms to help them gain an appropriate amount of weight during pregnancy. Hagobian would study the same population but concentrate on the dads.

The research is entering uncharted waters. "There's absolutely no data on dads during pregnancy," Hagobian said.

Hagobian hypothesizes that if moms lose weight, dads will too because in most families, women are the nutritional gatekeepers. "Maybe dads will also be more motivated to be physically active, to eat healthier, and to change their lifestyle now that they're going to have a baby," he said.

The grant will provide real-world research opportunities for students. Undergraduates will be involved in all aspects of data collection, working with study participants to take measurements such as height and weight.

"Students will gain experience in high quality research that's comparable with research done at R1 institutions like Harvard and Stanford," Hagobian said.

Congrats, Kinesiology Grads!

Nov 14, 2013

Congratulations to our Fall 2013 graduates! We are so proud of our students and can't wait to watch them continue to do great things. 

Spring 2014 Commencement is just around the corner!

The June 2014 ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 14th 2014, at 9 am. For more information on Fall Commencement, visit Cal Poly Student Affairs, or call (805) 756-1580.