Changes in body mass index and health related quality of life from childhood to adolescence

Objective . To determine longitudinal relationships between body mass index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in an adolescent population sample.
Design. Data collected in 2000 and 2005 within the Health of Young Victorians longitudinal cohort study.
Setting. Originally a community sample of elementary school students in Victoria, Australia. Follow-up occurred in either secondary schools or individuals homes.
Participants. Cohort recruited in 1997 via a random sampling design from Victorian elementary schools. Originally comprising 1 943 children, 1 569 (80.8%) participated in 2000 (wave 2, 8 – 13 years) and 851 (54%) in 2005 (wave 3, 13 – 19 years).
Main outcome measures. In both waves participants and their parents completed the PedsQL, a 23-item child HRQoL measure, and BMI z-scores and status (non-overweight, overweight or obese) were calculated from measured height and weight. Associations were tested cross-sectionally and longitudinally (linear regression, adjusted for baseline values)
Results. A total of 81.6% remained in the same BMI category, while 11.4% and 7.0% moved to higher and lower categories, respectively. Cross-sectional inverse associations between lower PedsQL and higher BMI categories were similar to those for elementary school children. Wave 2 BMI strongly predicted wave 3 BMI and wave 2 PedsQL strongly predicted wave 3 PedsQL. Only parent-reported Total PedsQL score predicted higher subsequent BMI, though this effect was small. Wave 2 BMI did not predict wave 3 PedsQL.
Conclusions. This novel study confi rmed previous cross-sectional associations, but did not provide convincing evidence that
BMI is causally associated with falling HRQoL or vice versa across the transition from childhood to adolescence.

Teaching primary science : emotions, identity and the use of practical activities

This paper uses cultural historical activity theory to examine the interactions between the choices primary teachers make in the use of practical activities in their teaching of science and the purposes they attribute to these; their emotions, background and beliefs; and the construction of their identities as teachers of science. It draws on four case studies of science lessons taught over a term by four exemplary teachers of primary science. The data collected includes video recordings of science lessons, interviews with each teacher and some of their students, student work, teachers’ planning documents and observation notes. In this paper, we examine the reflexive relationship between emotion and identity, and the teachers’ objectives for their students’ learning; the purposes (scientific and social) the teachers attributed to practical activities; and the ways in which the teachers incorporated practical activities into their lessons. The findings suggest that it is not enough to address content knowledge, pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge in teacher education, but that efforts also need to be made to influence prospective primary teachers’ identities as scientific thinkers and their emotional commitment to their students’ learning of science.

The factor structure of the Chinese family assessment instrument adapted for parent report

This article reports on a confirmatory factor analytic study of an adapted version of an instrument designed to assess family functioning of Chinese families. The Chinese Family Assessment Instrument, originally designed for completion by adolescents, was adapted for completion by parents. A sample of 700 parent dyads of elementary school children (382 girls and 318 boys) completed the adapted questionnaire. Initial factor analyses showed that the existing five-factor structure used for adolescents’ responses was not a good fit for these data. Instead, a four-factor solution emerged where the factors were positive family functioning, negative family functioning, tolerance for family members, and parental understanding. This structure was the same for both mothers and fathers. Further studies of the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument parent adaptation are required to test the factor structure that emerged. Following such studies, validation studies will be required.

Developing mathematical proficiency

It has long been recognised that successful mathematical learning comprises much more than just knowledge of skills and procedures. For example, Skemp (1976) identified the advantages of teaching mathematics for what he referred to as “relational” rather than “Instrumental” understanding. More recently, Kilpatrick, Swafford and Findell (2001) proposed five “intertwining strands” of mathematical proficiency, namely Conceptual Understanding, Procedural Fluency, Strategic Competence, Adaptive Reasoning, and Productive Disposition. In Australia, the new Australian Curriculum: Mathematics (F–10), which will be implemented from 2013, has adapted and adopted the first four of these proficiency strands to emphasise the breadth of mathematical capabilities that students need to acquire through their study of the various content strands. This paper addresses the question of what types of classroom practice can provide opportunities for the development of these capabilities in elementary schools. It draws on data from a number of projects, as well as the literature, to provide illustrative examples. Finally, the paper argues that developing the full set of capabilities requires complex changes in teachers’ pedagogy.

Physical Education can improve insulin resistance: The LOOK randomized cluster trial

Purpose
As impaired glucose metabolism may arise progressively during childhood, we sought to determine whether the introduction of specialist-taught school physical education (PE) based on sound educational principles could improve insulin resistance (IR) in elementary school children.

Methods
In this 4-yr cluster-randomized intervention study, participants were 367 boys and 341 girls (mean age = 8.1 yr, SD = 0.35) initially in grade 2 in 29 elementary schools situated in suburbs of similar socioeconomic status. In 13 schools, 100 min·wk−1 of PE, usually conducted by general classroom teachers, was replaced with two classes per week taught by visiting specialist PE teachers; the remaining schools formed the control group. Teacher and pupil behavior were recorded, and measurements in grades 2, 4, and 6 included fasting blood glucose and insulin to calculate the homeostatic model of IR, percent body fat, physical activity, fitness, and pubertal development.

Results
On average, the intervention PE classes included more fitness work than the control PE classes (7 vs 1 min, P < 0.001) and more moderate physical activity (17 vs 10 min, P < 0.001). With no differences at baseline, by grade 6, the intervention had lowered IR by 14% (95% confidence interval = 1%–31%) in the boys and by 9% (95% confidence interval = 5%–26%) in the girls, and the percentage of children with IR greater than 3, a cutoff point for metabolic risk, was lower in the intervention than the control group (combined, 22% vs 31%, P = 0.03; boys, 12% vs 21%, P = 0.06; girls, 32% vs 40%, P = 0.05).

Conclusions
Specialist-taught primary school PE improved IR in community-based children, thereby offering a primordial preventative strategy that could be coordinated widely although a school-based approach.

An investigation of the question-types teachers use to elicit information from children

Background: Teachers are required to report suspected child abuse in many parts of the world, but there is a paucity of research characterising how they question children about wrongdoing. Aims: Because children often speak to multiple people before arriving at a forensic interview it is critical to understand how untrained teachers question children. Sample and Methods: Teachers (n = 47) completed a mock interview, written quiz, and rated their expected performance. Results: In both the interview and quiz, teachers asked few open and many leading questions. Yet, they asked proportionally more open and fewer leading questions on the quiz than during the interview, demonstrating an implicit awareness of good questioning. Holding a higher education level degree was associated with asking fewer questions overall, and fewer leading questions, during the mock interview. Higher perceptions of performance after the mock interview were associated with having asked more open and more specific questions. Conclusions: Overall, teachers asked fewer open questions than desired but also demonstrated some awareness of good interviewing skill. We review the teachers' performance by highlighting the positive aspects of their interviewing skills, identifying areas for improvement, and making suggestions for enhancing teachers' abilities to question children about wrongdoing. Copyright © Australian Psychological Society Ltd 2014.

Screen-based behaviors of children and cardiovascular risk factors

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the amount of time spent in screen-based behaviors (SBBs; television viewing, computer use, and playing electronic games) is independently associated with individual and clustered cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among elementary school children. STUDY DESIGN: Baseline data were used from 264 children (age 7-10 years) participating in the Transform-Us! cluster-randomized controlled trial. Time (h/d) spent in SBBs was obtained using a parent proxy-report questionnaire. Anthropometrics, blood pressure (BP), and lipids were measured using standard techniques. A clustered CVD risk score was calculated as the average of the standardized values of the subcomponents (waist circumference [WC], systolic BP, diastolic BP, and lipids). RESULTS: After adjusting for sex, parent education, physical activity (accelerometry), diet, and WC (when adiposity was not the outcome), television viewing time was positively associated with body mass index z-score (P = .002), WC (P = .02), and systolic BP (P = .05). Electronic games was positively associated with low density lipoprotein levels (P = .05), and total screen-time was positively associated with body mass index (P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Differential associations were observed between types of SBBs and CVD risk factors, indicating that not all SBBs are adversely associated with obesity and CVD risk. There is a need to differentiate between types of SBBs when evaluating the CVD risk associated with screen behaviors in children. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial: ISRCTN83725066; Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12609000715279.

Expert teachers’ discursive moves in science classroom interactive talk

It is well established that teacher-student interactive talk is critically important in supporting students to reason and learn in science. Teachers’ discursive moves in responding to student input are keys to developing and supporting a rich vein of interactive discussion. While initiation-response-evaluation (IRE) sequences have been shown to dominate science classroom discourse patterns worldwide, teacher ‘prompts’ are important for opening up opportunities for reasoning and higher level learning. This paper describes the analysis of video sequences for five expert elementary teachers across three countries to develop a coding scheme for these teachers’ ‘discursive moves’ to guide and respond to student inputs, that unpacks more completely the strategies they use to develop interactive discussion. The analysis showed varied patterns of knowledge transaction, with teacher discursive moves serving three broad purposes: to elicit and acknowledge student responses, to clarify and to extend student ideas. The patterns of talk were also related to the dialogic-authoritative distinction in analysis of talk, to show that this distinction is only clear for particular types of expert practice. While the particular moves teachers use vary across parts of lessons we argue that they are revealing of teachers’ particular beliefs and of systemic constraints, and that there exist patterns in the use of the discursive categories that capture how expert teachers build deeper level knowledge in classroom interactive talk. We describe ways in which the analysis can inform science teacher education and the professional learning of teachers of science.