Rachael Cox

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.

Rates of overweight and obesity in a sample of Australian young people and their carers in out-of-home residential care

Young people living in out-of-home care (OOHC) – alternative housing for young people who are unable to live with their parents, typically due to abuse and/or neglect – are one of the most disadvantaged population groups.1 These young people face high physical, emotional, and behavioural health needs and poorer educational attainment.1 While concerns about their physical health have been reported, information on the rates of overweight/ obesity in this hard-to-reach population is limited.2 Further, no studies have examined OOHC carer weight status. This is an important knowledge gap, given OOHC settings are designed to reflect a home-like environment and carers assume a ‘pseudo’ parenting role. Given there is evidence that children with overweight or obese parents have an increased risk of being overweight or obese themselves,3 the weight status of carers in the OOHC setting may reflect a home environment that facilitates and/or models behaviours that may lead to excessive weight gain among young people in care.

Problematic Eating and Food-related Behaviours and Excessive Weight Gain: Why Children in Out-of-home Care Are at Risk

Abstract Emerging evidence suggests that abuse and neglect in childhood may play a role in subsequent development of obesity. One population group particularly at risk is children and young people living in out-of-home care (OOHC). Given this population is already a vulnerable group, identifying potential mechanisms by which childhood abuse and neglect increases risk for obesity is essential. A possible explanation is that problematic eating and food-related behaviours (i.e., emotional eating, compulsive eating, overeating, binge eating, stealing or hoarding food) might mediate the association between adverse childhood experiences and obesity. Hence, the overall goal of this paper was to provide a narrative review of eating and food-related difficulties for children in care and their possible association with unhealthy and excessive weight gain. This review revealed a shortage of existing empirical papers and signalled particular need for further examination of the mediating effects of problematic eating.

Distress, emotional clarity, and disordered eating in young people with complex emotional and behavioural difficulties: Emotional clarity, distress, and disordered eating in young people

Background: Disordered eating frequently co-occurs in young people seeking treatment for mental health and substance use difficulties. High levels of psychological distress and a lack of emotional clarity (LEC) are two constructs that have received recent attention as important constructs underlying this harmful behaviour; however how they interact to precipitate and maintain disordered eating still remains unclear. This study sought to address this gap by examining whether psychological distress moderates the relationship between LEC and disordered eating in a sample of young people with complex emotional and behavioural difficulties. Methods: Participants were young people (N = 306, M = 20.8 years) accessing youth specific alcohol and other drugs and/or primary mental health services in Australia who completed an online questionnaire which examined their level of emotional clarity, degree of distress, and engagement in disordered eating behaviours. Results: Moderation analysis was employed to examine if psychological distress (i.e., anxiety and depression) significantly moderates the relationship between LEC and disordered eating. A small, significant interactive effect of high levels of depressive symptoms on the relationship between LEC and disordered eating was found. Whereas, anxious affect did not significantly interact with LEC to predict disordered eating. Conclusions: Young people who struggle to identify and articulate their emotions are more likely to engage in disordered eating in the presence of high distress relating to depressive symptomatology. Addressing LEC through increasing emotional literacy, while treating depressive symptomatology, are key intervention strategies that may assist young people with complex emotional and behavioural difficulties manage disordered eating.

Descriptive study of carers' support, encouragement and modelling of healthy lifestyle behaviours in residential out-of-home care

Objective: Given the high prevalence of overweight/obesity among young people in residential out‐of‐home care (OOHC), and as their carers are in loco parentis, this research aimed: 1) to examine the healthy lifestyle cognitions and behaviours of residential carers; and 2) to describe resources needed to improve diet and/or physical activity outcomes for residents.

Can I Reach That Sticker? Preschoolers' Practical Judgments About Their Own and Others’ Body Size

Research to date has focused mostly on childrens representation of their physical self as a prelude to the development of a theory of mind (ToM) and on their understanding of the self as distinct from others over time. Whether children approaching the well-known age of ToM mastery are also accurately appraising their own bodys functional relationship to the everyday environment remains largely an unanswered question. Little work has investigated typical preschool-age childrens explicit accuracy when making judgments about their own bodys proportions. In the current study, 98 preschoolers made 16 practical judgments about whether their own body or an experimenters body could fit through an apparatus (half of the apparatuses were 30% smaller than the body in question, and half were 30% larger). Overall, accuracy increased with age but was unrelated to body size. Children in all age groups performed above chance, and accuracy did not differ depending on target (e.g., self or other). Children in a comparison condition judging fit of inanimate objects (n = 23) performed similarly, though showed less evidence of “yes” bias, and there were no age-based differences in accuracy. Results are discussed with regard to preschoolers’ developing body awareness, as are implications for research protocols in which children are asked to accurately identify their own body size and shape from an array.

Systematic review of organisation-wide, trauma-informed care models in out-of-home care (OoHC) settings

Trauma in early childhood has been shown to adversely affect childrens social, emotional, and physical development. Children living in out-of-home care (OoHC) have better outcomes when care providers are present for children, physically, psychologically, and emotionally. Unfortunately, the high turnover of out-of-home carers, due to vicarious trauma (frequently resulting in burnout and exhaustion) can result in a childs trauma being re-enacted during their placement in OoHC. Organisation-wide therapeutic care models (encompassing the whole organisation, from the CEO to all workers including administration staff) that are trauma-informed have been developed to respond to the complex issues of abuse and neglect experienced by children who have been placed in OoHC. These models incorporate a range of therapeutic techniques, and provide an overarching approach and common language that is employed across all levels of the organisation. The aim of this study was to investigate the current empirical evidence for organisation-wide, trauma-informed therapeutic care models in OoHC. A systematic review searching leading databases was conducted for evidence of organisation-wide, trauma-informed, out-of-home care studies, between 2002 and 2017. Seven articles were identified covering three organisational models. Three of the articles assessed the Attachment Regulation and Competency framework (ARC), one study assessed the Children and Residential Experiences programme (CARE), and three studies assessed The Sanctuary Model. Risk of bias was high in six of the seven studies. Only limited information was provided on the effectiveness of the models identified through this systematic review, although the evidence did suggest that trauma-informed care models may have significantly positive outcomes for children in OoHC. Future research should focus on evaluating components of trauma-informed care models and assessing the efficacy of the various organisational care models currently available.

Early childhood education and health working in partnership: the critical role early childhood educators can play in childhood obesity prevention

ABSTRACT Preschool children’s interest in popular culture is linked to many determinants of obesity development including branded energy-dense foods and sedentary play using digital technologies. In addition, highly packaged foods and throwaway toys reinforce unsustainable environmental habits encouraged by immersive marketing systems. Interrupting the effects of these systems demands multiple and diverse solutions. Our solution engages early childhood educators in obesity prevention by doing what they do best – pedagogy, curricula and care. Assisting young children to interact with their interests and developing habits like Healthy eating, Active play and environmentally Sustainable practices (HAS) is unique methodology. We believe that building the capacity of educators to co-create HAS curricula using children’s interests has the potential to develop life-long well-being and sustainability habits. HAS curricula aid in young children’s development of agentic decision-making abilities through the transformation of everyday concepts into higher-order mature concepts.

Rates of problematic eating and food-related behaviours in a sample of Australian young people in residential out-of-home care

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials studying the preventive effects of physical exercise, manual and behavioural treatments in acute low back pain and neck painIntroduction: The global financial crisis has left governments struggling to reduce their budget deficits. Loans and taxes are two important financial instruments for governments to close their budget gaps. According to models of temporal discounting and expected utility individuals should experience loans as a greater loss than taxes, depleting psychological resources and reducing individuals’ capacity to cope with stressors. The present research examined patterns of cardiovascular (CV) reactivity associated with exposure to loans or taxes. Methods: We randomised 73 students to one of three groups: loans, taxes, control (baseline). Participants in the experimental groups imagined finishing university with debts and having to repay the sums outstanding as a proportion of their salaried income over the next 30 years either via a loan repayment, or via taxes. Participants in the control group imagined finishing university, and then working in salaried employment over the next 30 years. All participants then performed a variant of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), whilst CV responses were monitored [BP (blood pressure), ECG (electrocardiogram), ICG (impedance cardiogram)]. Results: Compared to the control group, participants in the loan group exhibited maladaptive CV responses during the stress task (higher BP and higher total peripheral resistance [TPR]). Conversely, participants in the taxes group exhibited more adaptive CV responses and did not differ from the control group. Conclusions: Economic considerations have dominated debates surrounding macro-financial performance. The present research highlights the need to consider the psychological costs and benefits of tax-based and loan-based financial instruments.