The infant feeding activity and nutrition trial (INFANT) an early intervention to prevent childhood obesity : cluster-randomised controlled trial

Background : Multiple factors combine to support a compelling case for interventions that target the development of obesity-promoting behaviours (poor diet, low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour) from their inception. These factors include the rapidly increasing prevalence of fatness throughout childhood, the instigation of obesity-promoting behaviours in infancy, and the tracking of these behaviours from childhood through to adolescence and adulthood. The Infant Feeding Activity and Nutrition Trial (INFANT) aims to determine the effectiveness of an early childhood obesity prevention intervention delivered to first-time parents. The intervention, conducted with parents over the infant's first 18 months of life, will use existing social networks (first-time parent's groups) and an anticipatory guidance framework focusing on parenting skills which support the development of positive diet and physical activity behaviours, and reduced sedentary behaviours in infancy.

Methods/Design : This cluster-randomised controlled trial, with first-time parent groups as the unit of randomisation, will be conducted with a sample of 600 first-time parents and their newborn children who attend the first-time parents' group at Maternal and Child Health Centres. Using a two-stage sampling process, local government areas in Victoria, Australia will be randomly selected at the first stage. At the second stage, a proportional sample of first-time parent groups within selected local government areas will be randomly selected and invited to participate. Informed consent will be obtained and groups will then be randomly allocated to the intervention or control group.

Discussion : The early years hold promise as a time in which obesity prevention may be most effective. To our knowledge this will be the first randomised trial internationally to demonstrate whether an early health promotion program delivered to first-time parents in their existing social groups promotes healthy eating, physical activity and reduced sedentary behaviours. If proven to be effective, INFANT may protect children from the development of obesity and its associated social and economic costs.

Symptoms of depression and difficulty initiating sleep from early adolescence to early adulthood: a longitudinal study

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To assess the direction of the relationship and degree of shared associations between symptoms of depression and difficulty initiating sleep (DIS) from early adolescence to early adulthood. DESIGN: Cross-sectional and longitudinal assessment of the symptoms of depression-DIS association from early adolescence (age 13 y) to early adulthood (age 23 y). SETTING: Hordaland, Norway. PARTICIPANTS: There were 1,105 individuals (55% male) who took part in the Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behaviour Study (NLHB) and participated at least once across seven data collection waves during the years 1990-2000. INTERVENTIONS: N/A. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Characteristic data were obtained during the first assessment. Symptoms of depression and instances of DIS were assessed during each data collection wave. Symptoms of depression and DIS were associated in all data waves, and one-step cross-lagged bivariate correlations were significant and comparatively high for both factors. Structural equation modelling indicated that DIS and symptoms of depression at wave 1 remain relatively stable across waves (all P < 0.001), and a significant and consistent unidirectional cross-lagged effect was noted running from symptoms of depression to DIS from early adolescence to early adulthood. DIS is only marginally and inconsistently associated with the lagged symptoms of depression score across waves. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that symptoms of depression established in early adolescence are a moderate predictor of difficulty initiating sleep (DIS) in early adulthood, whereas the reverse association of DIS predicting depression was not convincingly supported. These findings are in contrast to previous findings that suggest sleep problems as a risk factor for the later development of depression.

Collaborative social work practice in opposing paradigms: Issues to emerge from a sexual assault and mental health project

The following paper discusses my experiences of coordinating a community development project to develop collaborative links between a mental health and a sexual assault service. It presents a critically reflective description and analysis of this work to outline how post modern ideas were used to maximise the possibilities of using feminist frameworks in practice.

‘To exercise a beneficial influence over a man’ : marriage, gender and the native institutions in early colonial Australia

This chapter examines understandings of marriage among missionaries and humanitarians connected with two early colonial ‘Native Institutions’. A comparison of the Parramatta Native Institution in New South Wales and the Albany Native Institution in Western Australia demonstrates that concerns about marriage were central in discussions about the formation and maintenance of these Institutions. Both of these Institutions were established and supported by British evangelicals, who had brought with them to Australia powerful assumptions about gender roles, particularly in
marriage. These assumptions influenced their decisions regarding the children who resided in the Native Institutions. Within specific colonial contexts, however, the assumptions of humanitarians and missionaries did not remain static, and debates over the futures of the Aboriginal children they sought to educate reveal complex and shifting hierarchies of race, gender and class.

Location, perception and dissolution of form 1991-1993

The thesis covers a series of two and three-dimensional installations created in the investigation of both metaphorical and literal perceptions of form. The journey leads from the idea of painted-related dissolution of form in the early works, to the translation from three-dimensional to two-dimensional installations, and lastly, to experimentation with sound works where non-physical form is explored.

Maternal self-efficacy regarding children's eating and sedentary behaviours in the early years : Associations with children's food intake and sedentary behaviours

Introduction. This cross-sectional study aimed to describe parents' views regarding self-efficacy to influence children's eating and sedentary behaviours at two time points in early childhood, and to examine associations between these views and children's eating and sedentary behaviours.

Methods. Mothers of 1-year (n=60) and 5-year-old children (n=80) were recruited through Maternal and Child Health Centres and kindergartens in Victoria, Australia. Mothers reported children's dietary intake, television viewing and perceptions of their self-efficacy regarding children's eating and sedentary behaviours.

Results. Overall, 5-year-old children consumed significantly more energy-dense food and drink and spent significantly more time viewing TV/DVD and video. Mothers of 1-year-olds were significantly more likely to report they felt confident to limit child's consumption of non-core foods/drinks, and to limit screen access (p<0.001). Measures of maternal self-efficacy were directly associated with 5-year-old children's water (p<0.05), and fruit and vegetable consumption (p<0.005), and with 1-year-old children's vegetable consumption (p<0.05), and were inversely associated with cordial and cake consumption (p<0.05). Maternal self-efficacy to limit viewing time was inversely associated with screen-time exposure in both age groups (p<0.01).

Conclusion. This study suggests that mother's self-efficacy regarding limiting non-core foods/drinks and limiting screen-time exposures may decline during the first few years of a child's life. Higher maternal self-efficacy was associated with children having more obesity protective eating and sedentary behaviours at both ages. Interventions to support the development of healthy lifestyle behaviours may be most effective if they target mothers' self-efficacy in these domains early in their child's life.

Identification and genetic determination of an early life risk disposition for depressive disorder : atypical stress-related behaviour in early childhood

Progress in psychiatric genetics has been slow despite evidence of high heritability for most mental disorders. We argue that greater use of early detectable intermediate traits (endophenotypes) with the highest likely aetiological significance to depression, rather than complex clinical phenotypes, would be advantageous. Longitudinal data from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study were used to identify an early life behavioural endophenotype for atypical hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenocortical function in adolescence, a neurobiological indicator of anxiety and depression. A set of descriptors representing rigid and reactive behaviour at age 1 year discriminated those in the top 20% of the free salivary cortisol exposure at age 17 years. Genetic association analysis revealed a male-sensitive effect to variation in three specific single nucleotide polymorphisms within selected genes underpinning the overall stress response. Furthermore, support for a polygenic effect on stress-related behaviour in childhood is presented.

Family-centred practice : empowerment, self-efficacy, and challenges for practitioners in early childhood education and care

Family-centred practice has been included in the Victoria, Australia Early Years Learning and Development Framework as a key practice principle for professionals working across all early years programs in that state. While this model of partnership for engaging and collaborating with families has long been used in the early intervention sector, the efficacy of adopting this model more widely across the wider early childhood education and care sector has not been explored. This article presents a discussion on family-centred practice as a model for engaging with families in the care and education of their children. Through an analysis of the underlying philosophy and an examination of the core principles and characteristics, the article explores family-centred practice as it sits within a broader theory of partnership. This analysis identifies that while there are essential principles and characteristics that position the model within a partnership framework, it is the notion of empowerment, an underpinning philosophy guiding the model, that adds another dimension to the way practitioners in early childhood education and care settings collaborate with families. In examining the broader early childhood context, the capacity of many early childhood practitioners to effectively implement empowering behaviours is challenged.

Sesamin modulation of lipid class and fatty acid profile in early juvenile teleost, Lates calcarifer, fed different dietary oils

Sesamin, a major sesame seed lignan, has diverse biological functions including the modulation of molecular actions in lipid metabolic pathways and reducing cholesterol levels. Vertebrates have different capacities to biosynthesize long-chain PUFA from dietary precursors and sesamin can enhance the biosynthesis of ALA to EPA and DHA in marine teleost. Early juvenile barramundi, Lates calcarifer, were fed for two weeks on diets rich in ALA or SDA derived from linseed or Echium plantagineum, respectively. Both diets contained phytosterols and less cholesterol compared with a standard fish oil-based diet. The growth rates were reduced in the animals receiving sesamin regardless of the dietary oil. However, the relative levels of n-3 LC-PUFA in total lipid, but not the phospholipid, increased in the whole body by up to 25% in animals fed on sesamin with ALA or SDA. Sesamin reduced the relative levels of triacylglycerols and increased polar lipid, and did not affect the relative composition of phospholipid subclasses or sterols. Sesamin is a potent modulator for LC-PUFA biosynthesis in animals, but probably will have more effective impact at advanced ages. By modulating certain lipid metabolic pathways, sesamin has probably disrupted the body growth and development of organs and tissues in early juvenile barramundi.

Short- and long-term consequences of early developmental conditions : a case study on wild and domesticated zebra finches

Divergent selection pressures among populations can result not only in significant differentiation in morphology, physiology and behaviour, but also in how these traits are related to each other, thereby driving the processes of local adaptation and speciation. In the Australian zebra finch, we investigated whether domesticated stock, bred in captivity over tens of generations, differ in their response to a life-history manipulation, compared to birds taken directly from the wild. In a ‘common aviary’ experiment, we thereto experimentally manipulated the environmental conditions experienced by nestlings early in life by means of a brood size manipulation, and subsequently assessed its short- and long-term consequences on growth, ornamentation, immune function and reproduction. As expected, we found that early environmental conditions had a marked effect on both short- and long-term morphological and life-history traits in all birds. However, although there were pronounced differences between wild and domesticated birds with respect to the absolute expression of many of these traits, which are indicative of the different selection pressures wild and domesticated birds were exposed to in the recent past, manipulated rearing conditions affected morphology and ornamentation of wild and domesticated finches in a very similar way. This suggests that despite significant differentiation between wild and domesticated birds, selection has not altered the relationships among traits. Thus, life-history strategies and investment trade-offs may be relatively stable and not easily altered by selection. This is a reassuring finding in the light of the widespread use of domesticated birds in studies of life-history evolution and sexual selection, and suggests that adaptive explanations may be legitimate when referring to captive bird studies.