Quantities of foods consumed by 12- to 24-month-old New Zealand children

Aim:  The present study aimed to estimate small, median and large daily quantities of frequently consumed foods and identify which food groups are important sources of key micronutrients for 12- to 24-month-old New Zealand children.

Methods:  A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in three cities in the South Island of New Zealand. Healthy toddlers (n = 188) were randomly selected using multistage sampling. Three non-consecutive 1-day weighed food records were collected from each child and the frequencies and daily quantities of foods and beverages, and important sources of iron and zinc, were determined.

Results:  Fifty percent or more of the children consumed the following foods at least once over 3 days (median gram intake among toddlers who consumed the food): milk (366 g), white bread (29 g), banana (70 g), potato (34 g), cheese (12 g), apple (39 g), ‘Weetbix’ whole-wheat breakfast cereal (16 g), yeast extract spread (‘Marmite’, ‘Vegemite’) (2 g), carrot (17 g) and margarine (4 g). Dairy, cereals and the meat/fish/poultry/eggs/nuts food group were the most important sources of iron and zinc in the toddlers' diets, providing 69.1% of iron and 86.3% of zinc.

Conclusion:  This research provides dietitians, other health professionals, researchers and policy-makers with detailed information on daily quantities of foods and beverages frequently consumed by toddlers that can be used for dietetic counselling, dietary assessment, and to develop food-based dietary guidelines specifically for toddlers.

Preventing mental health problems in children : the families in mind population-based cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background

Externalising and internalising problems affect one in seven school-aged children and are the single strongest predictor of mental health problems into early adolescence. As the burden of mental health problems persists globally, childhood prevention of mental health problems is paramount. Prevention can be offered to all children (universal) or to children at risk of developing mental health problems (targeted). The relative effectiveness and costs of a targeted only versus combined universal and targeted approach are unknown. This study aims to the effectiveness, costs and uptake of two approaches to early childhood prevention of mental health problems ie: a Combined universal-targeted approach, versus a Targeted only approach, in comparison to current primary care services (Usual care).
Design

Three armed, population-level cluster randomised trial (2010-2014) within the universal, well child Maternal Child Health system, attended by more than 80% of families in Victoria, Australia at infant age eight months. Participants: Families of eight month old children from nine participating local government areas. Randomised to one of three groups: Combined, Targeted or Usual care. Intervention: (a) the Combined universal and targeted program where all families are offered the universal Toddlers Without Tears group parenting program followed by the targeted Family Check-Up one-on-one program or (b) the Targeted Family Check-Up program. The Family Check-Up program is only offered to children at risk of behavioural problems. Analysis: Participants will be analysed according to the trial arm to which they were randomised, using logistic and linear regression models to compare primary and secondary outcomes. An economic evaluation (cost consequences analysis) will compare incremental costs to all incremental outcomes from a societal perspective.
Discussion

This trial will inform public health policy by making recommendations about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these early prevention programs. If effective prevention programs can be implemented at the population level, the growing burden of mental health problems could be curbed.

Physical activity levels and patterns of 19-month-old children

Purpose: It is a commonly held perception that most young children are naturally active and meet physical activity recommendations. However, there is no scientific evidence available on which to confirm or refute such perceptions. The purpose of this study was to describe the physical activity levels and patterns of Australian toddlers.


Methods: Physical activity and demographic data of two hundred ninety-five 19-month-old children from the Melbourne InFANT Program were measured using accelerometers and parent surveys. Validated cut points of 192–1672 and >1672 counts per minute were used to determine time spent in light- (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous- (MVPA) intensity physical activity, respectively. To be included in the analysis, children were required to have four valid days of accelerometer data to provide an acceptable (>0.70) reliability estimate of LPA and MVPA. Physical activity data for different periods of the day were examined.


Results: On average, toddlers engaged in 184 min of LPA and 47 min of MVPA daily, and 90.5% met the current Australian physical activity recommendations for 0- to 5-yr-olds (180 min of LPA/MVPA per day). Physical activity levels during mid morning and mid afternoon were higher than those during other periods. Physical activity patterns for boys and girls were similar, although boys engaged in more physical activity during the morning hours than girls did.


Conclusions: Most children meet the physical activity recommendations, although the majority of activity undertaken in the study was of light intensity. Boys were more active than girls were in the morning hours, but there were no differences between sexes over the entire day. Certain periods of the day may hold more promise for intervention implementation than others do.

Play-based learning

This chapter develops themes providing insights into the meaning of play-based learning and what it means to practitioners working in a range of contexts with early learners in the age range of birth to eight years. Play-based learning is defined as young learners constructing knowledge as they explore, experiment, discover and solve problems in playful and unique ways. Development is linked to play and viewed as a pattern of continuous, interrelated changes that begins at birth and continue through life span whilst learning is a change in behaviour. In the early years it is through experience in play that learning occurs. The definition of curriculum in this chapter presents a context for young learners demonstrating how play-based learning is fundamental to the well-being of young learners, be they infants, babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers or school aged children.

The diversity of backgrounds of young learners is recognised and provision has to be made in the curriculum for a rich diversity of learners. The Chapter also considers how a socio-constructivist theoretical orientation in the curriculum can be created with children and adults co-constructing knowledge with play-based learning as the framework.

Tracking of maternal self-efficacy for limiting young children's television viewing and associations with children's television viewing time: a longitudinal analysis over 15-months

BACKGROUND: Mothers' self-efficacy for limiting their children's television viewing is an important correlate of this behaviour in young children. However, no studies have examined how maternal self-efficacy changes over time, which is potentially important during periods of rapid child development. This study examined tracking of maternal self-efficacy for limiting young children's television viewing over 15-months and associations with children's television viewing time. METHODS: In 2008 and 2010, mothers (n = 404) from the Melbourne InFANT Program self-reported their self-efficacy for limiting their child's television viewing at 4- and 19-months of age. Tertiles of self-efficacy were created at each time and categorised into: persistently high, persistently low, increasing or decreasing self-efficacy. Weighted kappa and multinomial logistic regression examined tracking and demographic and behavioural predictors of change in self-efficacy. A linear regression model examined associations between tracking categories and children's television viewing time. RESULTS: Tracking of maternal self-efficacy for limiting children's television viewing was low (kappa = 0.23, p < 0.001). Mothers who had persistently high or increasing self-efficacy had children with lower television viewing time at 19-months (β = -35.5; 95 % CI = -54.4,-16.6 and β = 37.0; 95 % CI = -54.4,-19.7, respectively). Mothers of children with difficult temperaments were less likely to have persistently high self-efficacy. Mothers who met adult physical activity guidelines had 2.5 greater odds of increasing self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to increase and maintain maternal self-efficacy for limiting children's television viewing time may result in lower rates of this behaviour amongst toddlers. Maternal and child characteristics may need to be considered when tailoring interventions.

Making learning visible – parents perceptions of children's learning outdoors

Parents as partners in their children's learning is predicated by a notion of a mutual understanding of the learning as shared by educators. Documenting learning in early childhood education and care (ECE & C) settings has evolved from more traditional developmental approaches to include photographs, artefacts and social stories to make learning visible for parents. However, while educators are using these approaches to document learning in ECE & C settings, the shared understanding of the learning for parents is not always mutually understood. The paper presents a small-scale case study, which examined the way parents in one long day ECE & C service which had recently redeveloped an outdoor play area to bring in more natural affordances to support the children's learning and development. The paper reports on the perceptions of two parents with children attending this centre in how the educators were making visible the learning and development afforded the children through engaging in this newly designed space. The study found that while educators were using a range of documentation approaches, the parents had little shared understanding of their children as engaging in this space.

Infant and toddler responses to a redesign of their childcare outdoor play space

Researchers used an affordances-based conceptual framework to study infants' and toddlers' responses to the redesign of their play space. Behavior mapping and child tracking observations showed that the introduction of features such as edging, levels and inclines appeared to increase the level and variety of children's physical activity, and lead to greater utilization of the space. While researchers observed children engaging with natural affordances, this was less than expected, possibly due to educator constraints. Children's engagement with new features indicated unique child views of the space and a delight in challenge. Findings suggest the value of looking for children's perspective on affordances, and considering the effects of specific features and the influence of caregivers in evaluating design outcomes.

Responding to concerns about a study of infant overnight care postseparation, with comments on consensus: Reply to Warshak (2014)

© 2015 American Psychological Association. Richard Warshak (2014) published a "consensus report" in this journal (Vol. 20, No. 1) documenting a policy position on infants and overnight care following parental separation. He asserts that "[t]here is no evidence to support postponing the introduction of regular and frequent involvement, including overnights, of both parents with their babies and toddlers" (p. 60). To support this assertion, Warshak presents a series of detailed concerns about an Australian study the authors conducted, some of which involve serious misrepresentations of our aims, methodology, and findings. In this reply, we clarify the purpose, context, and limitations of our study, and refute one of Warshak's central theses: that our study's design and results favor primary maternal care of young children and discourage overnights and shared parenting for fathers. We appraise the Warshak article, and consider whether other approaches to consensus statements and to policy dialogue might better serve families involved in the family law system, particularly when emotive debates such as the overnight care of young children cannot yet be resolved by science.

Desvelando uma Instituição de Educação Infantil: uma experiência de formação em serviço com profissionais da primeira infância

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Expressividade e emoções na primeira infância: um estudo sobre a interação criança-criança na perspectiva walloniana

Pós-graduação em Educação - FCT

Práticas pedagógicas na educação infantil: a construção do sentido da escola para as crianças

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Possibilidades de atividades de comunicação emocional entre bebês: um estudo à luz da teoria histórico-cultural

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC

Aumento da atividade dos sistemas antioxidantes modula o estresse oxidativo na saliva de crianças com cárie precoce severa

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Alteration of distortion product otoacoustic emission input/output functions in subjects with a previous history of middle ear dysfunction

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sub-clinical alterations on the amplitudes and slopes of the DPOAE input-output responses from subjects with previous history of middle ear dysfunction. Material/Methods: The study included 15 subjects with and 15 subjects without a history of otitis media in the last 10 years. All participants were assessed with acoustic immittance, pure-tone audiometry, and DPOAEs. For the later, I/O functions and I/O slopes were estimated at 1501, 2002, 3174, 4004 and 6384Hz. Results: No statistically significant differences were found between the 2 groups in terms of behavioral thresholds. The group with a previous history of middle ear dysfunction presented significantly lower mean DPOAE amplitudes at 2002, 3174 and 4004 Hz. In terms of DPOAE slopes, no statistically significant differences were observed at the tested frequencies, except at 3174 Hz. Conclusions: Middle ear pathologies can produce subclinical alterations that are undetectable with traditional pure-tone audiometry. The data from the present study show that reduced amplitude DPOAEs are associated with a previous history of middle ear complications. The corresponding DPOAE slopes were affected at only 1 tested frequency, suggesting that the cochlear non-linearity is preserved. Considering these results, it remains to be elucidated to what degree the DPOAE amplitude attenuation interferes with higher-order auditory tasks.

Transient Benign Hyperphophatasemia - A Systematic Review of The Literature

BACKGROUND:: Sometimes, a temporary increase in alkaline phosphatase level is found in healthy infants and toddlers without evidence of liver or bone disease. The condition is customarily termed transient benign hyperphosphatasemia of infancy and early childhood. Most textbooks do not refer to the condition. METHODS:: We completed a systematic review of the literature using the principles underlying the UK Economic and Social Research Council guidance on the conduct of narrative synthesis and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. RESULTS:: The 142 reports retained for analysis included 813 cases (male:female ratio = 1.1:1.0): 80 in subjects >18 years and 733 in subjects ≤18 years of age. The alkaline phosphatase ratio, calculated by dividing the measured level by the upper normal limit, was ≥5.0 in ≈70% and the duration of the elevation ≤4 months in 80% of the cases. Transient benign hyperphosphatasemia often followed a benign infection but available data fail to demonstrate a causal link. The prevalence of transient benign hyperphosphatasemia ranged 1.1-3.5% in infants 2 to 24 months of age. CONCLUSIONS:: Transient benign hyperphosphatasemia is likely the most common cause of hyperphosphatasemia among healthy infants and toddlers. Sometimes, it also occurs in older children and adults, indicating that the traditional term transient benign hyperphosphatasemia of infancy and early childhood might not be correct. The elevation in alkaline phosphatase persists for >4 months in ≈20% of the cases. Recognition of this benign condition is crucial to avoid unnecessary investigations.