Adolescents' views about a proposed rewards intervention to promote healthy food choice in secondary school canteens

Using rewards may be an effective method to positively influence adolescent eating behaviour, but evidence regarding this approach is limited. The aim of this study was to explore young adolescent views about a proposed reward intervention associated with food choice in school canteens. Focus groups were held in 10 schools located in lower socioeconomic areas within Northern Ireland and involved 90 pupils aged 11-12 years (54 girls, 36 boys). Our findings indicated a high degree of acceptability for a reward scheme but there was major diversity in the type of rewards valued by pupils, largely defined by geographical area and socio-cultural differences. Pupils from rural areas tended to emphasize group-based and longer-term rewards, whereas pupils from urban-city schools tended to suggest individualistic and immediate rewards. The major factors influencing food choice were food price, value for money, taste and visual appearance. Pupils felt that factors outside of their control, such as being assigned to the second lunch sitting placed considerable constraints on their food choice. This research not only indicated a high degree of acceptability for a rewards-based intervention but also highlighted a number of socio-cultural and environmental factors that should be considered by researchers when developing such an intervention.

International inter-school competition to encourage children to walk to school: a mixed methods feasibility study.

Background: Active travel to school can be an important contributor to the total physical activity of children but levels have declined and more novel approaches are required to stimulate this as an habitual behaviour. The aim of this mixed methods study was to investigate the feasibility of an international walk to school competition supported by novel swipecard technology to increase children's walking to/from school. Methods: Children aged 9-13 years old participated in an international walk to school competition to win points for themselves, their school and their country over a 4-week period. Walks to and from school were recorded using swipecard technology and a bespoke website. For each point earned by participants, 1 pence (£0.01) was donated to the charity of the school's choice. The primary outcome was number of walks to/from school objectively recorded using the swipecard tracking system over the intervention period. Other measures included attitudes towards walking collected at baseline and week 4 (post-intervention). A qualitative sub-study involving focus groups with children, parents and teachers provided further insight. Results: A total of 3817 children (mean age 11.5±SD 0.7) from 12 schools in three cities (London and Reading, England and Vancouver, Canada) took part in the intervention, representing a 95% intervention participation rate. Results show a gradual decline in the average number of children walking to and from school over the 4-week period (week 1 mean 29%±SD2.5; week 2 mean 18%±SD3.6; week 3 mean 14%±SD4.0; week 4 mean 12%±SD1.1). Post intervention, 97% of children felt that walking to school helped them stay healthy, feel happy (81%) and stay alert in class (76%). These results are supported by qualitative findings from children, parents and teachers. Key areas for improvement include the need to incorporate strategies for maintenance of behaviour change into the intervention and also to adopt novel methods of data collection to increase follow-up rates. Conclusions: This mixed methods study suggests that an international walk to school competition using innovative technology can be feasibly implemented and offers a novel way of engaging schools and motivating children to walk to school.

Plain English: Applying Principles to Home School Written Communication Considering Diverse Families

Schools attempting to engage with the families of all learners, including those with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds recognize the importance of effective oral and written communication. The aim of this study is to determine if school generated written communication created by an urban school district serving a culturally and linguistically diverse population in the Northeast of the US adhered to the principles of plain English. This exploratory research examined exemplar pieces of written school generated communication, using different forms of linguistic analysis to determine whether the communication contained elements recognized to facilitate or impede the comprehensibility of each piece of communication. Additionally, a text assessment tool which can help schools to analyze the written text communication they send to families was developed and refined.

Paving the way for the use of the SDQ in economic evaluations of school-based population health interventions: an empirical analysis of the external validity of SDQ mapping algorithms to the CHU9D in an educational setting

Purpose
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a behavioural screening tool for children. The SDQ is increasingly used as the primary outcome measure in population health interventions involving children, but it is not preference based; therefore, its role in allocative economic evaluation is limited. The Child Health Utility 9D (CHU9D) is a generic preference-based health-related quality of-life measure. This study investigates the applicability of the SDQ outcome measure for use in economic evaluations and examines its relationship with the CHU9D by testing previously published mapping algorithms. The aim of the paper is to explore the feasibility of using the SDQ within economic evaluations of school-based population health interventions.
Methods
Data were available from children participating in a cluster randomised controlled trial of the school-based roots of empathy programme in Northern Ireland. Utility was calculated using the original and alternative CHU9D tariffs along with two SDQ mapping algorithms. t tests were performed for pairwise differences in utility values from the preference-based tariffs and mapping algorithms.
Results
Mean (standard deviation) SDQ total difficulties and prosocial scores were 12 (3.2) and 8.3 (2.1). Utility values obtained from the original tariff, alternative tariff, and mapping algorithms using five and three SDQ subscales were 0.84 (0.11), 0.80 (0.13), 0.84 (0.05), and 0.83 (0.04), respectively. Each method for calculating utility produced statistically significantly different values except the original tariff and five SDQ subscale algorithm.
Conclusion
Initial evidence suggests the SDQ and CHU9D are related in some of their measurement properties. The mapping algorithm using five SDQ subscales was found to be optimal in predicting mean child health utility. Future research valuing changes in the SDQ scores would contribute to this research.

Visual morbidity due to inaccurate spectacles among school children in rural China: the See Well to Learn Well Project, report 1.

PURPOSE: Inadequately corrected refractive error is the leading cause of visual disability among children in China; inaccurate spectacles are a potential cause. The prevalence and visual impact of spectacle inaccuracy were studied among rural, secondary-school children, to determine the optimal timing for updating of refraction. METHODS: A random sample of children from years 1 and 2 in all junior and senior high schools in Fuyang Township, Guangdong Province, underwent ocular examination. All children who reported wearing glasses received cycloplegic refraction, vision assessment, and measurement of current spectacles. RESULTS: Among 3226 examined children, 733 (22.7%) reported owning spectacles. Refractive error and spectacle power were assessed for 588 (80.2%) children. They had a mean age of 15.0 +/- 1.6 years; 70.2% were girls, 83.3% had more than -1.5 D of myopia, and 17.9% had presenting vision < or = 6/12 in the better eye. The glasses of 48.8% of children were inaccurate by > or = 1 D; inaccuracy was > or = 2 D in 17.7%. Children with inaccurate glasses (> or = 1 D) had presenting vision in the better eye significantly (P < 0.001) worse than that of children with accurate glasses, and 30.3% had presenting acuity < or = 6/12. In multivariate models, younger age (P = 0.004), more myopic refractive error (P < 0.001), and having glasses > or = 1 year old (P = 0.04) were associated with inaccurate spectacles. DISCUSSION: Inaccurate spectacles are common and are associated with significant visual impairment among children in rural China. Reducing outdated glasses could lessen the visual burden, although refractive services may have to be offered on an annual basis for optimal benefit.

School-based approaches to the correction of refractive error in children.

The World Health Organization estimates that 13 million children aged 5-15 years worldwide are visually impaired from uncorrected refractive error. School vision screening programs can identify and treat or refer children with refractive error. We concentrate on the findings of various screening studies and attempt to identify key factors in the success and sustainability of such programs in the developing world. We reviewed original and review articles describing children's vision and refractive error screening programs published in English and listed in PubMed, Medline OVID, Google Scholar, and Oxford University Electronic Resources databases. Data were abstracted on study objective, design, setting, participants, and outcomes, including accuracy of screening, quality of refractive services, barriers to uptake, impact on quality of life, and cost-effectiveness of programs. Inadequately corrected refractive error is an important global cause of visual impairment in childhood. School-based vision screening carried out by teachers and other ancillary personnel may be an effective means of detecting affected children and improving their visual function with spectacles. The need for services and potential impact of school-based programs varies widely between areas, depending on prevalence of refractive error and competing conditions and rates of school attendance. Barriers to acceptance of services include the cost and quality of available refractive care and mistaken beliefs that glasses will harm children's eyes. Further research is needed in areas such as the cost-effectiveness of different screening approaches and impact of education to promote acceptance of spectacle-wear. School vision programs should be integrated into comprehensive efforts to promote healthy children and their families.

Determinants of uptake and maintenance of active commuting to school

The objective was to identify determinants of uptake and maintenance of active school travel (AST) over 4 years in children aged 9 at baseline. Data from wave 1 (n=8502) and 2 (n=7479) of the Growing Up in Ireland study were analysed. At 9- and 13-years 25% and 20% engaged in AST. Children were more likely to maintain or take-up AST if they lived in an urban area. Change in distance to school influenced both maintenance and adoption of AST, with a negative impact seen for increased distance between 9 and 13 years and a positive impact seen for decreased distance. Some factors which predict uptake and maintenance of AST are modifiable and can inform intervention development.

Using VEs to enhance chronological understanding of history in middle school children.

Studies with computer-experienced children in the UK and less experienced in Ukraine explored the potential for VEs in teaching historical chronology to middle-school children aged 10–12 years old. Active fly-through VEs had been previously used successfully with primary school children aged 8–9 years old (given specific training with the environment) when they were subsequently tested for their ability to order events chronologically. All VEs in the present studies included a training element and active challenge, both found previously to enhance learning in other age groups. Ukraine children were trained and tested. UK children here were trained and tested, then retrained and retested to examine savings. Unlike other age groups, no significant benefit was seen for VE training compared with PowerPoint and Text conditions in either study. Possible explanations for the ineffectiveness of VE training for children of middle school age will be discussed. Keywords: timeline, chronographics

A Race to the bottom – Prison Education and the English and Welsh Policy Context

This article examines prison education in England and Wales arguing that a disjuncture exists between the policy rhetoric of entitlement to education in prison at the European level and the playing out of that entitlement in English and Welsh prisons. Caught between conflicting discourses around a need to combat recidivism and a need for incarceration, prison education in England exists within a policy context informed, in part, by an international human rights agenda on the one hand and global recession, financial cutbacks, and a moral panic about crime on the other. The European Commission has highlighted a number of challenges facing prison education in Europe including over‐crowded institutions, increasing diversity in prison populations, the need to keep pace with pedagogical changes in mainstream education and the adoption of new technologies for learning (Hawley et al., 2013). These are challenges confronting all policy makers involved in prison education in England and Wales in a policy context that is messy, contradictory and fiercely contested. The article argues that this policy context, exacerbated by socio‐economic discourses around neo‐liberalism, is leading to a race‐to‐the‐bottom in the standards of educational provision for prisoners in England and Wales.