Fresh kids: the efficacy of a health promoting schools approach to increasing consumption of fruit and water in Australia

The Fresh Kids programme utilized the Health Promoting Schools (HPSs) framework to design a whole-of-school, multifaceted intervention targeting specific behaviours to promote healthy eating and reduce the risk factors associated with childhood obesity. The aim of the programme was to evaluate the effectiveness of the HPS framework to increase fruit and water consumption among primary school-aged children over a 2-year period. The study design was an interrupted time series. Four primary schools in the inner west of Melbourne, Australia, participated in the programme intervention. Baseline data were collected using a lunch box audit to assess the frequency of children with fresh fruit, water and sweet drinks, either brought from home or selected from canteen lunch orders. The lunch box audit was repeated periodically for up to 2 years following programme implementation to assess the sustainability of dietary changes. Across all participating schools, significant increases between 25 and 50% were observed in the proportion of children bringing fresh fruit. Similarly, all schools recorded increases between 15 and 60% in the proportion of students bringing filled water bottles to school and reductions between 8 and 38% in the proportion of children bringing sweet drinks. These significant changes in dietary patterns were sustained for up to 2 years following programme implementation. Targeting key nutrition behaviours and using the HPS framework is an effective and simple approach which could be readily implemented in similar childhood settings. Effective strategies include facilitating organizational change within the school; integrating curriculum activities; formalizing school policy and establishing project partnerships with local community nutrition and dietetic services.

Fruit consumption of boys (8–11 years) is related to preference for sour taste

The present study investigated whether the most preferred balance between sweet and sour taste of children (n=50, 9.2±0.9 yrs of age) are related to their consumption of fruit. Taste preferences were measured with a rank-by-elimination procedure with seven sweet orangeades that differed in added citric acid (i.e. 0.009−0.065 M). Fruit consumption was assessed with a questionnaire that was completed by the children's parents. Results showed that boys' but not girls' most preferred balance between sweet and sour taste was positively correlated with their consumption of fruit: that is, the more added citric acid was preferred the more fruit was consumed. We conclude that preference for high concentrations of citric acid in a sweet context may be associated with the consumption of fruit in boys. In girls, the optimal balance between sweet and sour taste seems to be of less importance; their consumption of fruit may be more influenced by their parents, availability and health related motives.

Inspired by the past, driven by the passion: music in state-supported education in New South Wales and Victoria 1848-1920

This investigation considers the development of class music teaching in New South Wales and Victoria during the first seventy-two years of state-supported primary education. The first chapter describes the English background including music teaching methods (resulting from the mid-nineteenth century English choral singing movement) and the subsequent development of music teaching in English elementary schools. The promotion of school music is then considered on a broadly chronological basis in the two states and several themes are identified in relation to school music policy and practice. These include the status of music (core curriculum or extra-curricular subject), who should teach music (generalist or specialist teachers), what teaching methods and music notation should be used (staff or Tonic Sol-fa), musical training for generalist teachers, and curriculum content in relation to the aims and objectives of school music. Comparisons are made between developments in both states and between both states and English school music. The final chapter demonstrates the relevance of many of the historical themes identified for music education today. The thesis concludes by identifying a recurring problem from the past. namely the lack of co-ordination between various aspects of school music policy, as the most serious problem to be overcome in the future.

Protein quality and physico-functionality of Australian sweet lupin (Lupinus angustifolius cv. Gungurru) protein concentrates prepared by isoelectric precipitation or ultrafiltration

The protein quality and physico-functional properties of Australian sweet lupin protein concentrates, prepared by isoelectric precipitation or ultrafiltration, were assessed. The ultrafiltration process resulted in a higher yield of protein than did the isoelectric precipitation process. The lupin kernel and the two lupin protein concentrates had similar essential amino acid compositions that were inferior to ideal human requirements. True digestibilities of the isoelectrically precipitated (ISO) and the ultrafiltered (UF) lupin protein concentrates were similar but significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of casein. Net protein utilisations (NPU) of the ISO and UF protein concentrates were similar but significantly lower (P<0.05) than that of casein. The UF protein concentrate had higher protein solubility than did the ISO protein concentrate (P<0.05). Low foaming capacity, low viscosity, but high emulsification capacity (particularly at low pH) were observed for lupin protein concentrates.

Anaerobic treatment of juice and fruit-processing effluents

Effluents from the juice and fruit processing industries have high organic matter content. Discharge of these effluents without appropriate treatment would therefore have a negative impact on the environment. High organic contents and low contamination levels make such effluents suitable for biological treatment, especially anaerobic digestion. In the latter process, significant amounts of digester gas can be produced, turning a waste stream into a source of renewable energy that can be used for electricity and heat production, leading to financial benefits.This paper investigates the feasibility of anaerobic digestion and the gas generation potential of five different effluents from the carrot-juice, orange-juice and sultana processing industries. Benefits are assessed in terms of digester gas production and organic matter reduction. The results show that the specific gas production ranges between 665 and 860 m3 per tonne of effluent treated (as organic dry matter). Furthermore, nearly 100% of the organic matter is converted into gas in the case of the carrot- and orange-juice processing residues, while a 84.5% reduction of the organic matter was found to be achievable in the case of the sultana wastes. While these results are promising, further testing will be required to validate them in a larger scale.

Sensory acceptability of foods containing Australian sweet lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) flour

Foods containing Australian sweet lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) flour (ASLF) were assessed by consumer panelists (n= 54) in comparison to wheat flour (control) and defatted soy flour (DFSF) products. All ASLF products were rated in the acceptable half of the evaluation scale. General acceptability of ASLF chocolate chip cookies and breakfast bars was rated similarly to the control and DFSF variants (P > 0.05). ASLF pasta was rated lower than control but higher than DFSF pasta (P < 0.05), whereas ASLF addition reduced the general acceptability of muffins and bread (P < 0.05) compared with the other variants. Some ASLF products appeared palatable whereas ASLF incorporation rate in others requires reduction.

Capping the SRO's sweet tooth

The consequences of the State Revenue Office's (SRO) liking for fixtures and its liberal interpretation of the definition of chattels have been coming before the Supreme Court regularly.

Leading as emotional management work in high risk times: the counterintuitive impulses of performativity and passion

This paper explores, through a case study of educational restructuring in Victoria, Australia, how school leaders in a public education system in Australia mediate reform discourses emphasizing managerial and market accountability and the emotional and messy work of teaching and leading. These accountability exercises were often seen by teachers and principals to be distractions; more about reporting and recording, rather than addressing substantive educational issues. They simultaneously distanced teachers and leaders from the 'real' and 'passionate' work of education while appropriating and commodifying teachers' and leaders' emotions and desires to do well. School leaders were expected to manage the emotional performances of their students, parents and colleagues as well as themselves. They also managed the emotions arising from the dissonance between teachers' professional and personal commitment to making a difference for all students based on principles of equity and the performativity requirements based on efficiency and narrowly defined and predetermined criteria of effectiveness and success that often undermined improvement for many students. In that sense performativity ('being seen to be good') and passion (for 'doing good') often produced counterintuitive impulses.

Australian sweet lupin flour addition reduces the glycaemic index of a white bread breakfast without affecting palatability in healthy human volunteers

The addition of some legume ingredients to bread has been associated with effects on glycaemic, insulinaemic and satiety responses that may be beneficial in controlling type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity. However, the effect of Australian sweet lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) flour (ASLF) is unknown. This investigation examined the effect of adding ASLF to standard white bread on post-meal glycaemic, insulinaemic and satiety responses and palatability in healthy subjects. Using a randomised, single-blind, cross-over design, 11 subjects consumed one breakfast of ASLF bread and two of standard white bread ≥ 7 days apart after fasting overnight. Each breakfast also included margarine, jam, and tea with milk and contained 50g available carbohydrate. On each test day, blood samples were taken after fasting, then several times over 2 hours post-prandially, and analysed for plasma glucose and serum insulin. Subjects rated breakfast palatability and perception of satiety, in the fasting state and over 3 hours post-prandially, after which food intake from an ad libitum buffet and for the rest of the day was recorded. Incremental areas under the curves for glucose, insulin and satiety, glycaemic index, insulinaemic index and satiety index were calculated. ASLF addition to the breakfast reduced its glycaemic index (mean ± SEM; ASLF bread breakfast = 74.0 ± 9.6. Standard white bread breakfast = 100, P=0.022), raised its insulinaemic index (ASLF bread breakfast = 127.7 ± 12.0. Standard white bread breakfast = 100, P=0.046), but did not affect palatability, satiety or food intake. ASLF addition resulted in a palatable breakfast; however, the potential benefits of the lowered glycaemic index may be eclipsed by the increased insulinaemic index.

Water-binding capacity and viscosity of Australian sweet lupin kernel fibre under in vitro conditions simulating the human upper gastrointestinal tract

There is currently little understanding of the physicochemical properties in the human gastrointestinal tract of Australian sweet lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) kernel fibre (LKF), a novel food ingredient with potential for the fibre enrichment of foods such as baked goods. Since physicochemical properties of dietary fibres have been related to beneficial physiological effects in vitro, this study compared water-binding capacity and viscosity of LKF with that of other fibres currently used for fibre-enrichment of baked goods, under in vitro conditions simulating the human upper gastrointestinal tract. At between 8.47 and 11.07g water/g dry solids, LKF exhibited water-binding capacities that were significantly higher (P<0.05) than soy fibre, pea hull fibre, cellulose and wheat fibre at all of the simulated gastrointestinal stages examined. Similarly, viscosity of LKF was significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of the other fibres at all simulated gastrointestinal stages. The relatively high water-binding capacity and viscosity of LKF identified in this study suggests that this novel fibre ingredient may elicit different and possibly more beneficial physiological effects in the upper human gastrointestinal tract than the conventional fibre ingredients currently used in fibre-enriched baked goods manufacture. We are now performing human studies to investigate the effect of LKF in the diet on health-related gastrointestinal events.

Socio-economic inequalities in women`s fruit and vegetable intakes: a multilevel study of individual, social and environmental mediators

Objective: This study employed a multilevel design to test the contribution of individual, social and environmental factors to mediating socio-economic status (SES) inequalities in fruit and vegetable consumption among women. Design: A cross-sectional survey was linked with objective environmental data. Setting: A community sample involving 45 neighbourhoods. Subjects: In total, 1347 women from 45 neighbourhoods provided survey data on their SES (highest education level), nutrition knowledge, health considerations related to food purchasing, and social support for healthy eating. These data were linked with objective environmental data on the density of supermarkets and fruit and vegetable outlets in local neighbourhoods. Results: Multilevel modelling showed that individual and social factors partly mediated, but did not completely explain, SES variations in fruit and vegetable consumption. Store density did not mediate the relationship of SES with fruit or vegetable consumption. Conclusions: Nutrition promotion interventions should focus on enhancing nutrition knowledge and health considerations underlying food purchasing in order to promote healthy eating, particularly among those who are socio-economically disadvantaged. Further investigation is required to identify additional potential mediators of SES–diet relationships, particularly at the environmental level.

Oral zinc sulfate solutions inhibit sweet taste perception

We investigated the ability of zinc sulfate (5, 25, 50 mM) to inhibit the sweetness of 12 chemically diverse sweeteners, which were all intensity matched to 300 mM sucrose [800 mM glucose, 475 mM fructose, 3.25 mM aspartame, 3.5 mM saccharin, 12 mM sodium cyclamate, 14 mM acesulfame-K, 1.04 M sorbitol, 0.629 mM sucralose, 0.375 mM neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHDC), 1.5 mM stevioside and 0.0163 mM thaumatin]. Zinc sulfate inhibited the sweetness of most compounds in a concentration dependent manner, peaking with 80% inhibition by 50 mM. Curiously, zinc sulfate never inhibited the sweetness of Na-cyclamate. This suggests that Na-cyclamate may access a sweet taste mechanism that is different from the other sweeteners, which were inhibited uniformly (except thaumatin) at every concentration of zinc sulfate. We hypothesize that this set of compounds either accesses a single receptor or multiple receptors that are inhibited equally by zinc sulfate at each concentration.

Australian sweet lupin kernal fibre : potential as a palatable functional food ingredient

These studies investigated whether lupin kernel fibre (LKF) could be formulated into palatable fibre-enriched foods demonstrating effects in humans of potential benefit to health. High-fibre baked goods of acceptable palatability were formulated using LKF and consumption of LKF resulted in potentially beneficial effects on satiety, insulin and cholesterol.

Fruit and vegetable consumption and stroke : meta-analysis of cohort studies

Background
Increased consumption of fruit and vegetables has been shown to be associated with a reduced risk of stroke in most epidemiological studies, although the extent of the association is uncertain. We quantitatively assessed the relation between fruit and vegetable intake and incidence of stroke in a meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Methods
We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and bibliographies of retrieved articles. Studies were included if they reported relative risks and corresponding 95% CIs of stroke with respect to frequency of fruit and vegetable intake.

Findings
Eight studies, consisting of nine independent cohorts, met the inclusion criteria. These groups included 257 551 individuals (4917 stroke events) with an average follow-up of 13 years. Compared with individuals who had less than three servings of fruit and vegetables per day, the pooled relative risk of stroke was 0·89 (95% CI 0·83–0·97) for those with three to five servings per day, and 0·74 (0·69–0·79) for those with more than five servings per day. Subgroup analyses showed that fruit and vegetables had a significant protective effect on both ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke.

Interpretation
Increased fruit and vegetable intake in the range commonly consumed is associated with a reduced risk of stroke. Our results provide strong support for the recommendations to consume more than five servings of fruit and vegetables per day, which is likely to cause a major reduction in strokes.