Community-based childhood obesity prevention

This thesis found that targeting obesogenic behaviours through community based interventions leads to reduced childhood overweight/obesity. Obesogenic behaviours included sugary drinks and high fat food consumption, low physical activity and high levels of sedentariness. When packaged they are more successful in preventing childhood obesity than they are when targeted singly.

Process evaluation design and tools used in a kindergarten-based, family-involved intervention to prevent obesity in early childhood. The ToyBox-study

Process evaluation (PE) is used for the in-depth evaluation of the implementation process of health promotion programmes. The aim of the current paper was to present the PE design and tools used in the ToyBox-intervention. The PE design was based on a three-step approach, including the identification of ToyBox-specific PE elements (step 1), the development of PE tools and harmonization of procedures (step 2), and the implementation of PE using standardized protocol and tools across the intervention countries (step 3). Specifically, to evaluate the implementation of the intervention, teachers' monthly logbooks were recorded (dose delivered, fidelity, dose received); post-intervention questionnaires were completed by parents/caregivers and teachers (dose received); participation and attrition rates were recorded (recruitment, reach); and audit questionnaires and retrospective information on weather conditions were collected (physical and social environment within which the intervention was implemented). Regarding the teachers' training sessions, the researchers who performed the trainings completed evaluation forms and documented teachers' attendance after each training (dose delivered, fidelity, dose received) and teachers completed evaluation forms after each training (dose received). The PE performed in the ToyBox-intervention may contribute in the evaluation of its effectiveness, guide the revision of the intervention material and provide insights for future health promotion programmes and public health policy.

Designing and implementing a kindergarten-based, family-involved intervention to prevent obesity in early childhood: the ToyBox-study

The development of the ToyBox-intervention was based on the outcomes of the preliminary phase of the ToyBox-study, aiming to identify young children's key behaviours and their determinants related to early childhood obesity. The ToyBox-intervention is a multi-component, kindergarten-based, family-involved intervention with a cluster-randomized design, focusing on the promotion of water consumption, healthy snacking, physical activity and the reduction/ breaking up of sedentary time in preschool children and their families. The intervention was implemented during the academic year 2012–2013 in six European countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Poland and Spain. Standardized protocols, methods, tools and material were used in all countries for the implementation of the intervention, as well as for the process, impact, outcome evaluation and the assessment of its cost-effectiveness. A total sample of 7,056 preschool children and their parents/caregivers, stratified by socioeconomic level, provided data during baseline measurements and participated in the intervention. The results of the ToyBox-study are expected to provide a better insight on behaviours associated with early childhood obesity and their determinants and identify effective strategies for its prevention. The aim of the current paper is to describe the design of the ToyBox-intervention and present the characteristics of the study sample as assessed at baseline, prior to the implementation of the intervention.

Supporting children's social development

This book shows educators how to support children’s friendships in the early years. It covers three core themes:

- knowing how young children form close relationships with each other 

Family strategies to support and develop resilience in early childhood

Early childhood is an important time for the development of resilience. A recently completed study has followed three cohorts of resilient children and young people living in disadvantaged areas in Victoria, Australia, through different transitions in their educational careers. This paper focuses on the early childhood cohort, where we have followed children from kindergarten/preschool into primary school. Using data gathered primarily through interviews with parents (mothers in each case), this paper presents a qualitative naturalistic sub-study that used deductive thematic analysis to explore the different strategies used by families to support their child's resilience. Our findings highlight that resilience was a salient concept for all of the mothers in the study and each mother articulated a range of strategies they used within the family to try and support their child's development and resilience. These strategies were constrained by the settings in which the families lived. © 2014 © 2014 TACTYC.

Cultural influence on peer relationships in early childhood settings

This paper presents a cultural perspective of young children’s peer relationships. Through reporting on a study of a group of Chinese immigrant children’s learning experiences with peers of the same cultural backgrounds in English dominant early childhood contexts, it reveals that the sharing of a similar cultural heritage may play an important role in the development of relationships for young children in diverse cultural learning communities. This paper is written from the perspectives of socioculture and culture theory. Central to my argument is the contextual dimension of culture. This dimension provides an explanatory structure for understanding immigrant children’s formation of home-culture oriented peer togetherness and peer culture within the paradigm of English dominant spheres. My position is to recognize that the children’s responses to peers are both subject to the influences of their home cultures, and the relationship between different cultures. The notion of cultural relationship is important in this paper, leading to the suggestion that early childhood settings should create an enabling and empowering sociocultural milieu that provides immigrant children with opportunities for intercultural ways of learning and development.

Lower protein-to-carbohydrate ratio in maternal diet is associated with higher childhood systolic blood pressure up to age four years

The prenatal environment can influence development of offspring blood pressure (BP), which tracks into adulthood. This prospective longitudinal study investigated whether maternal pregnancy dietary intake is associated with the development of child BP up to age four years. Data are from 129 mother-child dyads enrolled in the Women and Their Children's Health study. Maternal diet was assessed using a validated 74-item food frequency questionnaire at 18 to 24 weeks and 36 to 40 weeks, with a reference period of the previous three months. Child systolic and diastolic BP were measured at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36 and 48 months, using an automated BP monitor. Using mixed-model regression analyses adjusted for childhood growth indices, pregnancy intakes of percentage of energy (E%) polyunsaturated fat (β coefficient 0.73; 95% CI 0.003, 1.45; p = 0.045), E% omega-6 fatty acids (β coefficient 0.89; 95% CI 0.09, 1.69; p = 0.03) and protein-to-carbohydrate (P:C) ratio (β coefficient -14.14; 95% CI -27.68, -0.60; p = 0.04) were associated with child systolic BP trajectory up to 4 years. Child systolic BP was greatest at low proportions of dietary protein (<16% of energy) and high carbohydrate (>40% of energy) intakes. There may be an ideal maternal macronutrient ratio associated with optimal infant BP. Maternal diet, which is potentially modifiable, may play an important role in influencing offspring risk of future hypertension.

An examination of the influence of maternal depression trajectories on child cognitive development and adolescent psychotic experiences

 This thesis investigated trajectories of maternal depression over time, and their influence on offspring's cognitive development in childhood and subsequent risk of psychotic experiences in early adolescence. Offspring’s IQ was also examined as a potential mediator of the relationship between maternal depression and offspring’s risk of psychotic experiences.

Critical design features for establishing a childhood obesity monitoring program in Australia

Efforts to combat childhood obesity in Australia are hampered by the lack of quality epidemiological data to routinely monitor the prevalence and distribution of the condition. This paper summarises the literature on issues relevant to childhood obesity monitoring and makes recommendations for implementing a school-based childhood obesity monitoring program in Australia. The primary purpose of such a program would be to collect population-level health data to inform both policy and the development and evaluation of community-based obesity prevention interventions. Recommendations are made for the types of data to be collected, data collection procedures and program management and evaluation. Data from an obesity monitoring program are crucial for directing and informing policies, practices and services, identifying subgroups at greatest risk of obesity and evaluating progress towards meeting obesity-related targets. Such data would also increase the community awareness necessary to foster change.

Childhood obesity and cognitive achievement

 Obese children tend to perform worse academically than normal-weight children. If poor cognitive achievement is truly a consequence of childhood obesity, this relationship has significant policy implications. Therefore, an important question is to what extent can this correlation be explained by other factors that jointly determine obesity and cognitive achievement in childhood? To answer this question, we exploit a rich longitudinal dataset of Australian children, which is linked to national assessments in math and literacy. Using a range of estimators, we find that obesity and body mass index are negatively related to cognitive achievement for boys but not girls. This effect cannot be explained by sociodemographic factors, past cognitive achievement or unobserved time-invariant characteristics and is robust to different measures of adiposity. Given the enormous importance of early human capital development for future well-being and prosperity, this negative effect for boys is concerning and warrants further investigation.

Child learning and development: concerns and perceptions of Chinese urban mothers

Child development is deservedly dominant in the discourses on education. In populated communities such as China’s, awareness of the prevalent ideas about child development within families is particularly important. Drawing on a series of conversations between parents and teachers through synchronous online text chat, this paper investigated the perceptions and concerns of Chinese urban parents on child development. The participants were mothers of three to six year old children from Changchun, China. Results were presented in terms of the nature of the questions the mothers raised and what they talked about when discussing their questions. Analyses of the mothers’ texts revealed their concerns on those elements of child development which challenged their roles in parenting, such as inappropriate social behaviours or regulated emotions. Data from the study provided insights into key characteristics of contemporary Chinese preschool children’s learning and development within families that might identify issues and trends of early childhood education on a larger contextual scope.

Teacher knowledge, child interest and parent expectation: Factors influencing multicultural programs in an early childhood setting

© 2015, Early Childhood Australia Inc. All rights reserved. MULTICULTURAL CURRICULA/PROGRAMS assume an important role within a cultural approach to learning and teaching in early childhood education in New Zealand. Te Whariki, the national early childhood curriculum framework of New Zealand, is an emancipatory and socially constructive document that emphasises equity, social justice and the important position of culture in children's learning and development. In practice this means developing early childhood programs that are sensitive and responsive to the needs and interests of children and families of minority cultures. Drawing on a critical social constructivist framework, this study of one early childhood centre in New Zealand identifies the features of its multicultural curriculum. The paper argues that a devotion to supporting children of minority cultures has persisted in the curriculum, but there is a reliance on mainstream pedagogy focused on children's learning within the centre environment and teachers' subjective knowledge about children's needs.

Resistance and reconstruction: older women talk about childhood sexual abuse

 This research explores personal stories of 16 Australian women aged 57 years and older who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. It privileges their views and examines how they managed the impact during their lives. The project contributes to professional knowledge by developing anti-ageist practices for social work and human services.

Research to practice: application of an evidence building framework to a childhood obesity prevention initiative in New South Wales, Australia

Issue addressed: Building evidence-based health promotion programs involves a number of steps. This paper aims to develop a set of criteria for assessing the evidence available according to a five-stage evidence-building framework, and apply these criteria to current child obesity prevention programs in NSW to determine the usefulness of the framework in identifying gaps in evidence and opportunities for future research and evaluation. Methods: A set of scoring criteria were developed for application within the five stages of an 'evidence-building' framework: problem definition, solution generation, intervention testing (efficacy), intervention replication, and dissemination research. The research evidence surrounding the 10 childhood obesity prevention programs planned for state-wide implementation in the New South Wales Healthy Children Initiative (HCI) was identified and examined using these criteria within the framework. Results: The evidence for the component programs of the HCI is at different stages of development. While problem definition and, to a lesser extent, solution generation was thoroughly addressed across all programs, there were a number of evidence gaps, indicating research opportunities for efficacy testing and intervention replication across a variety of settings and populations. Conclusions: The five-stage evidence-building framework helped identify important research and evaluation opportunities that could improve health promotion practice in NSW. More work is needed to determine the validity and reliability of the criteria for rating the extent and quality of the evidence for each stage.