Florentine de Groot

Reducing obesity in early childhood: results from Romp & Chomp, an Australian community-wide intervention program

BACKGROUND There is growing evidence that community-based interventions can reduce childhood obesity in older children. OBJECTIVE We aimed to determine the effectiveness of the Romp & Chomp intervention in reducing obesity and promoting healthy eating and active play in children aged 0-5 y. DESIGN Romp & Chomp was a community-wide, multisetting, multistrategy intervention conducted in Australia from 2004 to 2008. The intervention occurred in a large regional city (Geelong) with a target group of 12,000 children and focused on community capacity building and environmental (political, sociocultural, and physical) changes to increase healthy eating and active play in early-childhood care and educational settings. The evaluation was repeat cross-sectional with a quasiexperimental design and comparison sample. Main outcome measures were body mass index (BMI), standardized BMI (zBMI; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000 reference charts), and prevalence of overweight/obesity and obesity-related behaviors in children aged 2 and 3.5 y. RESULTS After the intervention there was a significantly lower mean weight, BMI, and zBMI in the 3.5-y-old subsample and a significantly lower prevalence of overweight/obesity in both the 2- and 3.5-y-old subsamples (by 2.5 and 3.4 percentage points, respectively) than in the comparison sample (a difference of 0.7 percentage points; P < 0.05) compared with baseline values. Intervention child-behavioral data showed a significantly lower intake of packaged snacks (by 0.23 serving), fruit juice (0.52 serving), and cordial (0.43 serving) than that in the comparison sample (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION A community-wide multisetting, multistrategy intervention in early-childhood settings can reduce childhood obesity and improve young childrens diets. This trial was registered with the Australian Clinical Trials Registry at anzctr.org.au as ACTRN12607000374460.

The association between sports participation, alcohol use and aggression and violence: A systematic review

OBJECTIVES To review the current research on alcohol-related violence and sports participation. METHODS The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were used to identify relevant studies for inclusion. A search of six databases (EBSCOhost) was conducted. RESULTS A total of 6890 studies was were identified in the initial search. Of these, 11 studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of the studies were from the US (n=10) and focused on collegiate athletes (n=7), adolescents (n=3), professional/former professional athletes (n=1). CONCLUSION The reviewed research indicates higher rates of alcohol use and violence in athlete populations when compared against non-athlete populations. Masculinity, violent social identity and antisocial norms connected to certain sports stand out as potential factors that may impact the association between sport and violence in athlete populations.

Increasing community capacity to prevent childhood obesity: challenges, lessons learned and results from the Romp & Chomp intervention.

BackgroundObesity is a major public health issue; however, only limited evidence is available about effective ways to prevent obesity, particularly in early childhood. Romp & Chomp was a community-wide obesity prevention intervention conducted in Geelong Australia with a target group of 12,000 children aged 0-5 years. The intervention had an environmental and capacity building focus and we have recently demonstrated that the prevalence of overweight/obesity was lower in intervention children, post-intervention. Capacity building is defined as the development of knowledge, skills, commitment, structures, systems and leadership to enable effective health promotion and the aim of this study was to determine if the capacity of the Geelong community, represented by key stakeholder organisations, to support healthy eating and physical activity for young children was increased after Romp & Chomp.MethodsA mixed methods evaluation with three data sources was utilised. 1) Document analysis comprised assessment of the documented formative and intervention activities against a capacity building framework (five domains: Partnerships, Leadership, Resource Allocation, Workforce Development, and Organisational Development); 2) Thematic analysis of key informant interviews (n = 16); and 3) the quantitative Community Capacity Index Survey.ResultsDocument analysis showed that the majority of the capacity building activities addressed the Partnerships, Resource Allocation and Organisational Development domains of capacity building, with a lack of activity in the Leadership and Workforce Development domains. The thematic analysis revealed the establishment of sustainable partnerships, use of specialist advice, and integration of activities into ongoing formal training for early childhood workers. Complex issues also emerged from the key informant interviews regarding the challenges of limited funding, high staff turnover, changing governance structures, lack of high level leadership and unclear communication strategies. The Community Capacity Index provided further evidence that the project implementation network achieved a moderate level of capacity.ConclusionsRomp & Chomp increased the capacity of organisations, settings and services in the Geelong community to support healthy eating and physical activity for young children. Despite this success there are important learnings from this mixed methods evaluation that should inform current and future community-based public health and health promotion initiatives.Trial Registration NumberANZCTRN12607000374460

Dealing with Alcohol-related problems in the Night-Time Economy: A Study Protocol for Mapping trends in harm and stakeholder views surrounding local community level interventions

BackgroundThis project will provide a comprehensive investigation into the prevalence of alcohol-related harms and community attitudes in the context of community-based interventions being implemented to reduce harm in two regional centres of Australia. While considerable experimentation and innovation to address these harms has occurred in both Geelong and Newcastle, only limited ad-hoc documentation and analysis has been conducted on changes in the prevalence of harm as a consequence, leaving a considerable gap in terms of a systematic, evidence-based analysis of changes in harm over time and the need for further intervention. Similarly, little evidence has been reported regarding the views of key stakeholder groups, industry, government agencies, patrons or community regarding the need for, and the acceptability of, interventions to reduce harms. This project will aim to provide evidence regarding the impact and acceptability of local initiatives aimed at reducing alcohol-related harms.Methods/DesignThis study will gather existing police data (assault, property damage and drink driving offences), Emergency Department presentations and Ambulance attendance data. Further, the research team will conduct interviews with licensed venue patrons and collect observational data of licensed venues. Key informant interviews will assess expert knowledge from key industry and government stakeholders, and a community survey will assess community experiences and attitudes towards alcohol-related harm and harm-reduction strategies. Overall, the project will assess: the extent of alcohol-related harm in the context of harm-reduction interventions, and the need for and acceptability of further intervention.DiscussionThese findings will be used to improve evidence-based practice both nationally and internationally.Ethical ApprovalThis project has been approved by Deakin University HREC.

Investment and vested interests in neuroscience research of addiction: why research ethics requires more than informed consent

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses some powerful vested interests in the neuroscience research of addiction, describing why and how they manipulate neuroscience research. The main justification for government investment in neuroscience research on addiction is to reduce the significant economic and personal costs of drug use and gambling. Given the enormous governmental resources poured into neuroscience research, it is reasonable to ask whether there has been an appropriate return on the investment, particularly as other areas of addiction research and treatment have been under-resourced despite evidence of the benefits of such investment. Neuroscience research on addiction has yielded valuable information about the molecular and neuronal changes that occur in the brain in response to the chronic use of addictive drugs and information about how these changes relate to addictive behaviors. The history of medicine is strewn with ideas once thought promising that did not deliver when scrutinized through the lens of evidence-based medicine. Hormone replacement therapy, prostate-specific antigen screening, perimyocardial infarction lidocaine and many other seemingly good ideas, when prematurely implemented, created bubbles of expectation and investment, leaving sponsors disappointed and patients ill-served when reality did not live up to theoretical promise.

Investment and Vested Interests in Neuroscience Research of Addiction: Ethical Research Requires More than Informed Consent

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses some powerful vested interests in the neuroscience research of addiction, describing why and how they manipulate neuroscience research. The main justification for government investment in neuroscience research on addiction is to reduce the significant economic and personal costs of drug use and gambling. Given the enormous governmental resources poured into neuroscience research, it is reasonable to ask whether there has been an appropriate return on the investment, particularly as other areas of addiction research and treatment have been under-resourced despite evidence of the benefits of such investment. Neuroscience research on addiction has yielded valuable information about the molecular and neuronal changes that occur in the brain in response to the chronic use of addictive drugs and information about how these changes relate to addictive behaviors. The history of medicine is strewn with ideas once thought promising that did not deliver when scrutinized through the lens of evidence-based medicine. Hormone replacement therapy, prostate-specific antigen screening, perimyocardial infarction lidocaine and many other seemingly good ideas, when prematurely implemented, created bubbles of expectation and investment, leaving sponsors disappointed and patients ill-served when reality did not live up to theoretical promise.

Investment and Vested Interests in Neuroscience Research of Addiction

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses some powerful vested interests in the neuroscience research of addiction, describing why and how they manipulate neuroscience research. The main justification for government investment in neuroscience research on addiction is to reduce the significant economic and personal costs of drug use and gambling. Given the enormous governmental resources poured into neuroscience research, it is reasonable to ask whether there has been an appropriate return on the investment, particularly as other areas of addiction research and treatment have been under-resourced despite evidence of the benefits of such investment. Neuroscience research on addiction has yielded valuable information about the molecular and neuronal changes that occur in the brain in response to the chronic use of addictive drugs and information about how these changes relate to addictive behaviors. The history of medicine is strewn with ideas once thought promising that did not deliver when scrutinized through the lens of evidence-based medicine. Hormone replacement therapy, prostate-specific antigen screening, perimyocardial infarction lidocaine and many other seemingly good ideas, when prematurely implemented, created bubbles of expectation and investment, leaving sponsors disappointed and patients ill-served when reality did not live up to theoretical promise.

Chapter 15 – Investment and Vested Interests in Neuroscience Research of Addiction: Ethical Research Requires More than Informed Consent

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses some powerful vested interests in the neuroscience research of addiction, describing why and how they manipulate neuroscience research. The main justification for government investment in neuroscience research on addiction is to reduce the significant economic and personal costs of drug use and gambling. Given the enormous governmental resources poured into neuroscience research, it is reasonable to ask whether there has been an appropriate return on the investment, particularly as other areas of addiction research and treatment have been under-resourced despite evidence of the benefits of such investment. Neuroscience research on addiction has yielded valuable information about the molecular and neuronal changes that occur in the brain in response to the chronic use of addictive drugs and information about how these changes relate to addictive behaviors. The history of medicine is strewn with ideas once thought promising that did not deliver when scrutinized through the lens of evidence-based medicine. Hormone replacement therapy, prostate-specific antigen screening, perimyocardial infarction lidocaine and many other seemingly good ideas, when prematurely implemented, created bubbles of expectation and investment, leaving sponsors disappointed and patients ill-served when reality did not live up to theoretical promise.