Lesley King

Fundamental movement skills among Australian preschool children.

Early childhood is a critical period for the development of fundamental movement skills (FMS). Children who do not master FMS are more likely to experience failure in the motor domain and less likely to participate in sport and games during childhood and adolescence. Studies among primary school aged children report low levels of FMS mastery indicating the need to implement FMS programs during the preschool years. Cross-sectional study of 425 children attending preschools in the Sydney, Australia in 2008. FMS were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 including locomotor (run, gallop, hop, horizontal jump) and object control (strike, catch, kick overhand throw) skills. Data were analysed using linear regression and chi-squared analyses. Total locomotor score was higher among girls compared with boys (p<0.00); however only the hop was significantly different (p=0.01). Boys had higher total (p<0.00) and individual object control scores compared with girls, except the catch (p=0.6). The prevalence of mastery differed across each FMS. Girls generally had higher mastery of locomotor skills and boys had higher mastery of object control skills. These findings highlight the need to provide structured opportunities which facilitate childrens acquisition of FMS, which may include providing gender separated games, equipment and spaces. That mastery of FMS is low in primary school children indicates the importance of early intervention programs in preschools. Preschools and child care centers hold promise as a key setting for implementing FMS programs.

Television food advertising to children: the extent and nature of exposure

OBJECTIVE To describe the pattern and prevalence of food and drink advertisements to children on commercial television in Sydney, Australia, and compare these with advertising regulations set out in the Childrens Television Standards and results from a similar study in 2002. DESIGN Data were collected by recording television from 06.00 hours until 23.00 hours on all three commercial channels from Sunday 14 May 2006 to Saturday 20 May 2006 (357 h). The study analysed advertisements in two childrens viewing periods, one as defined in the 2002 study and the other according to current standards. Food advertisements were coded using 18 food categories and were analysed by time period and popular childrens programmes. RESULTS Food advertisements occurred in similar proportions during childrens viewing hours and adults viewing hours (25.5 vs. 26.9% of all advertisements, respectively), although there was a higher rate of high-fat/high-sugar food advertisements during childrens viewing hours (49 vs. 39% of all food advertisements, P < 0.001). There were even more advertisements for high-fat/high-sugar foods during popular childrens programmes, contributing to 65.9% of all food advertisements. Estimates of exposure indicate that children aged 5-12 years were exposed to 96 food advertisements, including 63 high-fat/high-sugar advertisements per week. Since 2002, there has been a reduction in overall food and high-fat/high-sugar food advertisements. CONCLUSION Despite reductions in overall levels of food advertising, children continue to experience high levels of exposure to food advertisements, which remain skewed towards unhealthy foods. Further food advertising regulation should be required to curtail the current levels of advertising of high-fat/high-sugar foods to children, to make them commensurate with recommended levels of consumption.

Munch and Move: evaluation of a preschool healthy eating and movement skill program.

BackgroundEarly childhood services have been identified as a key setting for promoting healthy eating and physical activity as a means of preventing overweight and obesity. However, there is limited evidence on effective nutrition and physical activity programs in this setting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Munch and Move, a low-intensity, state-wide, professional development program designed to support early childhood professionals to promote healthy eating and physical activity among children in their care.MethodsThe evaluation involved 15 intervention and 14 control preschools (n = 430; mean age 4.4 years) in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and was based on a randomised-control design with pre and post evaluation of childrens lunchbox contents, fundamental movement skills (FMS), preschool policies and practices and staff attitudes, knowledge and confidence related to physical activity, healthy eating and recreational screen time.ResultsAt follow up, FMS scores for locomotor, object control and total FMS score significantly improved by 3.4, 2.1 and 5.5 points more (respectively) in the intervention group compared with the control group (P < 0.001) and the number of FMS sessions per week increased by 1.5 (P = 0.05). The lunchbox audit showed that children in the intervention group significantly reduced sweetened drinks by 0.13 serves (i.e., 46 ml) (P = 0.05).ConclusionThe findings suggest that a low intensity preschool healthy weight intervention program can improve certain weight related behaviours. The findings also suggest that change to food policies are difficult to initiate mid-year and potentially a longer implementation period may be required to determine the efficacy of food policies to influence the contents of preschoolers lunchboxes.

Mothers of pre-school children talk about childhood overweight and obesity: The Weight of Opinion study

Aim:  To investigate the perceptions of parents of young children aged 2–5 years regarding childhood overweight and obesity.

Persuasive food marketing to children: use of cartoons and competitions in Australian commercial television advertisements

While there is a recognized link between high levels of exposure to advertising of unhealthy foods and overweight and obesity among children, there is little research on the extent to which these exposures include persuasive marketing techniques. This study aimed to measure childrens exposure to the use of persuasive marketing within television food advertisements. Advertisements broadcast on all three commercial Australian television channels were recorded for an equivalent 1 week period in May 2006 and 2007 (714 h). Food advertisements were analysed for their use of persuasive marketing, including premium offers, such as competitions, and the use of promotional characters, including celebrities and cartoon characters. Advertised foods were categorized as core, non-core or miscellaneous foods. Commercial data were purchased to determine childrens peak viewing times and popular programs. A total of 20 201 advertisements were recorded, 25.5% of which were for food. Significantly more food advertisements broadcast during childrens peak viewing times, compared to non-peak times, contained promotional characters (P < 0.05) and premium offers (P < 0.001). During programs most popular with children, there were 3.3 non-core food advertisements per hour containing premium offers, compared to 0.2 per hour during programs most popular with adults. The majority of advertisements containing persuasive marketing during all viewing periods were for non-core foods. Persuasive marketing techniques are frequently used to advertise non-core foods to children, to promote childrens brand recognition and preference for advertised products. Future debate relating to television advertising regulations must consider the need to restrict the use of persuasive marketing techniques to children.

Parental influences on child physical activity and screen viewing time: a population based study

BackgroundParents can influence their childrens physical activity participation and screen time.This study examined the relative significance of perceived parental barriers and self-efficacy in relation to childrens physical activity participation and screen time viewing. The associations between these factors and the behaviours were analysed.MethodsCross-sectional population survey in New South Wales, Australia of parents of pre-school (N = 764), younger (Kindergarten, Grades 2 and 4; N = 1557) and older children (Grades 6, 8 and 10; N = 1665). Parents reported barriers and self-efficacy to influence their childs physical activity and screen time behaviours in a range of circumstances. Differences were examined by childs sex and age group, household income, maternal education and location of residence. The duration of physical activity and screen viewing was measured by parental report for pre-school and younger children and self-report for older children. Associations between parental factors and childrens organised, non-organised and total activity and screen time were analysed.ResultsCost, lack of opportunities for participation and transport problems were the barriers most often reported, particularly by low income parents and those in rural areas. The number of barriers was inversely related to childrens time spent in organised activity, but not their non-organised activity. Higher parental self-efficacy was positively associated with organised physical activity in the younger and older childrens groups and the non-organised activity of older children. School-age children (younger and older groups) were less likely to meet physical activity guidelines when parents reported ≥4 barriers (OR 3.76, 95% CI 1.25-11.34 and OR 3.72, 95% CI 1.71-8.11 respectively). Low parental self-efficacy was also associated with the likelihood of children exceeding screen time guidelines for each age group (pre-school OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.43-0.87; young children OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.39-0.80; and older children OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.43-0.74).ConclusionParental barriers are associated with the time that children spend in both active and sedentary pursuits. These findings highlight family, economic and environmental factors that should be addressed in programs to promote child physical activity and tackle sedentary behaviour.

The commercial food landscape: outdoor food advertising around primary schools in Australia

Objective: Food marketing is linked to childhood obesity through its influence on childrens food preferences, purchase requests and food consumption. We aimed to describe the volume and nature of outdoor food advertisements and factors associated with outdoor food advertising in the area surrounding Australian primary schools.

Best practice principles for community-based obesity prevention: development, content and application

Best practice in obesity prevention has generally been defined in terms of ‘what’ needs to be done while neglecting ‘how’. A multifaceted definition of best practice, which combines available evidence on what actions to take, with an established process for interpreting this information in a specific community context, provides a more appropriate basis for defining the principles of best practice in community‐based obesity prevention. Based on analysis of a range of literature, a preliminary set of principles was drafted and progressively revised through further analyses of published literature and a series of consultations. The framework for best practice principles comprises: community engagement, programme design and planning, evaluation, implementation and sustainability, and governance. Specific principles were formulated within this framework. While many principles were generic, distinctive features of obesity prevention were also covered. The engagement of end‐users influenced the design of the formatting of the outputs, which represent three levels of knowledge transfer: detailed evidence summaries, guiding questions for programme planners and a briefer set of questions for simpler communication purposes. The best practice principles provide a valuable mechanism for the translation of existing evidence and experience into the decision‐making processes for planning, implementing and evaluating the complex community‐based interventions needed for successful obesity prevention.

Translating research for evidence-based public health: key concepts and future directions

Applying research to guide evidence-based practice is an ongoing and significant challenge for public health. Developments in the emerging field of ‘translation’ have focused on different aspects of the problem, resulting in competing frameworks and terminology. In this paper the scope of ‘translation’ in public health is defined, and four related but conceptually different ‘translation processes’ that support evidence-based practice are outlined: (1) reviewing the transferability of evidence to new settings, (2) translation research, (3) knowledge translation, and (4) knowledge translation research. Finally, an integrated framework is presented to illustrate the relationship between these domains, and priority areas for further development and empirical research are identified.

Industry self regulation of television food advertising: responsible or responsive?

INTRODUCTION This study evaluated the impact of the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) self-regulatory initiative on unhealthy food marketing to children, introduced in January 2009. The study compared patterns of food advertising by AFGC and non-AFGC signatory companies in 2009, 2007 and 2006 on three Sydney commercial free-to-air television channels. METHODS Data were collected across seven days in May 2006 and 2007, and four days in May 2009. Advertised foods were coded as core, non-core and miscellaneous. Regression for counts analyses was used to examine change in rates of advertisements across the sampled periods and differential change between AFGC-signatory or non-signatory companies between 2007 and 2009. RESULTS Of 36 food companies that advertised during the 2009 sample period, 14 were AFGC signatories. The average number of food advertisements decreased significantly from 7.0 per hour in 2007 to 5.9 in 2009. There was a significant reduction in non-core food advertising from 2007 to 2009 by AFGC signatories compared with non-signatory companies overall and during peak times, when the largest numbers of children were viewing. There was no reduction in the rate of non-core food advertisements by all companies, and these advertisements continue to comprise the majority during peak viewing times. DISCUSSION While some companies have responded to pressures to reduce unhealthy food advertising on television, the impact of the self-regulatory code is limited by the extent of uptake by food companies. The continued advertising of unhealthy foods indicates that this self-regulatory code does not adequately protect children.