Leonie Rutherford

Obesity prevention interventions in early childhood education and care settings with parental involvement: a systematic review

Partnering early childhood education and care (ECEC) and the home together may be more effective in combating obesogenic risk factors in preschool children. Thus, an evaluation of ECEC obesity prevention interventions with a parental component was conducted, exploring parental engagement and its effect on obesity and healthy lifestyle outcomes. A search revealed 15 peer-reviewed papers. Some studies demonstrated positive weight changes, and secondary outcomes of changes in physical activity and healthy eating were reported in most studies; study quality ranged from fair to good. Four findings were linked to weight changes: (1) when educational material is consistent across settings; (2) capacity building of parents; (3) parents encouraging their children to drink water and (4) parental satisfaction and participation. A partnership between parents and ECEC may be a powerful force in the prevention of paediatric obesity. A better understanding of collaborative parental engagement is needed.

'It's all about Ben10(TM)': children's play, health and sustainability decisions in the early years

In todays fast food, fast-paced consumer society, too few questions are asked about the influence of digital media on young childrens health and sustainability choices, and indeed how such choices are expressed in childrens play (and early childhood classrooms). By interviewing children and parents, and using such data to prompt teacher discussion, a team of interdisciplinary researchers have started to develop an understanding of the interconnectedness of these issues in the early childhood environment. Data reveal the strong relationship between childrens digital media viewing and their associated clothing choices, their food selections and the sustainability consequences of such behaviour. We conclude that early childhood education must move beyond silo approaches to digital literacy, healthy eating and sustainability messages.

Television viewing behaviour among pre-schoolers: Implications for public health recommendations

4Given that early childhood is the time in which the foundations for future behaviours and habits are established and evidence shows that TV behaviours track from early childhood to adolescence, 5 it is not surprising that there has been much interest in determining an ‘appropriate’ amount of screen time for pre-schoolers. The aim of this paper is to review current recommendations around Australian pre-school children’s TV use and the implications of these guidelines when we consider current data pertaining to young children’s TV viewing behaviour.

Young children learning about well-being and environmental education in the early years: a funds of knowledge approach

Early childhood educators currently provide content focused learning opportunities for children in the areas of well-being and environmental education. However, these are usually seen as discrete content areas and educators are challenged with responding to children’s interests in popular-culture inspired food products given these influence their consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor and highly packaged food in the early childhood setting. This paper reports preliminary findings from a pilot randomised trial examining the interconnectedness of sustainability, well-being and popular-culture in early childhood education. Planning, assessment documentation and summaries from twenty-four learning experiences implemented by six educators over a six-week period were analysed using a deductive approach. Twenty well-being and environmental education topics were identified and shown to be generated by the educators when considering the children’s ‘funds of knowledge’ on popular-culture inspired food products. We argue that topics derived from children’s engagement with popular-culture may help educators to create an integrated approach to curriculum provision. This may impact child weight and facilitate obesity prevention and environmental sustainability as children create stronger connections between these content areas and their everyday choices and practices.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s multiplatform projects Industrial logics of children’s content provision in the digital television era

This paper traces the development of children’s multiplatform commissioning at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in the context of the digitalisation of Australian television. Whilst recent scholarship has focussed on ‘post-broadcast’ or ‘second-shift’ industrial practices, designed to engage view(s)ers with proprietary media brands, less attention has been focussed on children’s and young adults’ television in a public service context. Further, although multiplatform projects in the United States and Britain have been the subject of considerable analysis, less work has attempted to contextualise cultural production in smaller media markets. The paper explores two recent multiplatform projects through textual analysis, empirical research (consisting of interviews with key industry personnel) and an investigation of recent policy documents. The authors argue that the ABC’s mixed diet of children’s programming, featuring an educative or social developmental agenda, is complemented by its appeals to audience ‘participation’, with the Corporation maintaining public service values alongside the need to expand audience reach and the legitimacy of its brand. It finds that the ABC’s historical platform infrastructure, across radio, television and online, have allowed it to move beyond a market failure model to exploit multiplatform synergies competitively in the distribution of Australian children’s content to audiences on-demand.

Children's Content Regulation and the 'Obesity Epidemic'

Some 30 years ago, Australia introduced the Childrens Television Standards (CTS) with the twin goals of providing children with high-quality local programs and offering some protection from the perceived harms of television. The most recent review of the CTS occurred in the context of a decade of increasing international concern at rising levels of overweight and obesity, especially in very young children. Overlapping regulatory jurisdictions and co-regulatory frameworks complicate the process of addressing pressing issues of child health, while rapid changes to the media ecology have both extended the amount of programming for children and increased the economic challenges for producers. Our article begins with an overview of the conceptual shifts in priorities articulated in the CTS over time. Using the 2007–09 Review of the CTS as a case study, it then examines the role of research and stakeholder discourses in the CTS review process and critiques the effectiveness of existing regulatory regimes, both in providing access to dedicated childrens content and in addressing the problem of escalating obesity levels in the population.

Screen Media, Parenting Practices, and the Family Environment in Australia: A Longitudinal Study of Young Children's Media Use, Lifestyles, and Outcomes for Healthy Weight

Few studies of media use and adiposity explore the influence of parenting on childrens lifestyle behaviors. Screen media access, bedroom television, lack of physical activity, and snacking on energy-dense foods have long been implicated in child overweight. This research used data from the first three waves of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to investigate, prospectively, the associations between parental practices in early to middle childhood and childrens behaviors and weight in late childhood. A path model was used to investigate whether consistent parenting predicted setting of boundaries for access to and use of media, and was indirectly associated with childrens lifestyle behaviors that increase the likelihood of healthy weight maintenance. The findings demonstrated that childrens lifestyles pertinent to weight maintenance and media use cluster together and involve both old and newer screen media, but are also predicted by parenting practices and the family environment.

Adolescents' attitudes toward talking about books: Implications for educators

Abstract Young people’s frequency of engagement in reading books for pleasure markedly decreases as they move through the schooling years, reducing their exposure to this beneficial literacy practice. Young people’s perceptions of the value of reading can be socially mediated, and positive perception of the value of reading is associated with frequency of engagement in reading. As such, considering how to generate positive social interactions around reading is an important concern when seeking to increase young people’s reading frequency. We sought to investigate adolescents’ attitudes toward talking about books in order to identify reasons for engagement in discussion about books, as well as factors that constrained engagement in such discussions, with a view to informing best practice for educators seeking to engage adolescents in reading. The findings suggest that adolescents’ enjoyment of discussion about books may be related to common interests, enjoyment of discussion to facilitate critical exploration and comprehension, and the possibilities provided for recommendations and access. Adolescents’ interests in and ability to engage in book discussions was shaped by mutual text exposure, opportunity, personal preference, disinterested peers and social status maintenance. Findings are considered in relation to classroom practice, with formation of Special Interest Reading Groups within the classroom considered.

Feasibility of conducting a randomized trial to promote healthy eating, active play and sustainability awareness in early childhood curricula

ABSTRACT We sought to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of a preschool/kindergarten curriculum intervention designed to increase 4-year-old childrens knowledge of healthy eating, active play and the sustainability consequences of their food and toy choices. Ninety intervention and 65 control parent/child dyads were recruited. We assessed the study feasibility by examining recruitment and participation, completion of data collection, realization of the intervention and early childhood educators’ experiences of implementing the study protocol; our findings suggest the intervention was feasible to deliver. In addition, childrens sustainability awareness of non-compostable and recyclable items increased. Children in the intervention group significantly reduced their sugary drink consumption and increased their vegetable intake at follow-up compared to control. We conclude with recommendations for revisions to the child interview and parent questionnaire delivery to ensure the roll out of the randomized trial is conducted efficiently and rigorously.

Contours of Teenagers’ Reading in the Digital Era: Scoping the Research

ABSTRACT The study of teenagers’ reading practices is a dynamic and rapidly changing field, and one in which digital innovation continues to reformulate old concepts and generate new practices. This scoping review aims to capture the extent and range of international research on the topic. It explores what is known about teenagers’ reading practices; identifies the relevant disciplines, and how they define reading. It also documents the frameworks, themes, and study designs guiding research in the field. We argue that a scoping review is especially helpful for identifying gaps in the existing evidence base and informing future directions for research, particularly in the Australian context.