(An item from the ISHN Member information service) An articles in the January 2014 issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity reviewed several reviews and studies to determine the clustering among diet, physical activity and sedentary behavior. The authors report that "Eighteen studies (62% of potential studies) were identified that met the inclusion criteria, of which eight examined the clustering of PA and sedentary behavior and eight examined diet, PA and sedentary behavior. Studies were mostly cross-sectional and conducted in older children and adolescents (≥9 years). Findings from the review suggest that obesogenic cluster patterns are complex with a mixed PA/sedentary behavior cluster observed most frequently, but healthy and unhealthy patterning of all three behaviors was also reported. Cluster membership was found to differ according to age, gender and socio-economic status (SES). The tendency for older children/adolescents, particularly females, to comprise clusters defined by low PA was the most robust finding. Findings to support an association between obesogenic cluster patterns and overweight and obesity were inconclusive, with longitudinal research in this area limited." Read more>>
0 Comments
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) Two articles in the November 2013 Issue of Preventing Chronic Disease cast doubt on whether public health and school health programs are sustainable without continuing external funding and staff support. The first article examines the sustainability of state obesity prevention programs after the discontinuation of a US federal granting program. Noting that program evaluation rarely occurs after such funding periods, the authors report "Many of the programs that continued to run after the grant expired operated at reduced capacity, either reaching fewer people or conducting fewer activities. Many states were able to find funding from other sources, this shift often resulted in priorities changing. Evaluation capacity suffered in all states. Nearly all states reported losing infrastructure to communicate widely with partners. All states reported a severe or complete loss of their ability to provide training and technical assistance to partners. Despite these reduced capacities, states reported several key resources that facilitated continued work on the state plan". In the second article, the study examined the impact of a US requirement for local wellness policies on activity and nutrition in rural Colardo elementary schools after five years. The researchers reported "modest changes", with "Minutes for PE and recess did not increase, nor did offerings of fresh fruits and vegetables. More schools adopted policies prohibiting teachers from taking recess away as punishment (9.7% in 2005 vs 38.5% in 2011, P = .02) or for making up missed instructional time, class work, or tests in other subjects (3.2% in 2005 vs 28.2% in 2011, P = .03). More schools scheduled recess before lunch (22.6% in 2005 vs 46.2% in 2011, P = .04) and developed policies for vending machines (42.9% in 2005 vs 85.7% in 2011, P = .01) and parties (21.4% in 2005 vs 57.9% in 2011, P = .004). Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) Two articles in December 2013 Issue of Public Health Nutrition report on small scale studies of actual student choices about healthier food when thery are offered in school cafeterias. The first study of two large secondary schools found that "Despite the availability of nutritionally valuable dishes of the day, the most popular food items were sandwiches, pizza and desserts. FSM )free school meals) students were slightly more likely to choose the more nutritionally valuable dish of the day" The suthors suggest that ". School food standards should be reassessed in light of students’ preferences". The second artticle reported on a study in elementary schools where fruit was placed on student trays automatically to encourage their consumption. The authors report that "Requiring that fruits and vegetables be placed on each child's tray increased the fraction of children who ate a serving of fruits or vegetables by 8 percentage points (P < 0·01) but led to an extra 0·7 servings being thrown away per lunch served (P < 0·01). The default option approach cost $US 1·72 to get one additional child to eat one serving of fruits and vegetables for 1 d." They suggest the "default option, as a stand-alone programme, had only a limited impact on fruit and vegetable consumption but was much less cost-effective than other approaches". Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #2, 2013 of Nutrition Research Reviews presents the case that social norms can likely influence eating habits and may have an impact on the effectiveness of various interventions. Although it is possible unfair to comment on this conclusion without reading the full article, our immediate reaction is dismay. Surely this analysis is not new. There is a wide and deep body of knowledge on social influences that affect our behaviours...peers, close friends, the media, parents, social norms and so on. We also know that modifying normative beliefs is an important part of educational programs, including efforts to change the beliefs of students and the teachers. Surely we can move beyond this simple, endless analysis and produce research studying which interventions are more effective in counter-acting or strengthening which influences. Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #2, 2013 of Nutrition Research Reviews offers a unique macro-analysis of how food intake and physical activity have both declined in the UK. The attiocle suggests that both have declined, but the levels of food intake have not declined as much as activity levels, thereby creating the obesity/overweight trend. However, the provocative wording of the article also caught our attention in as much it shows how easily we can revert to stigmatizing attitudes and terminology. Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) Two articles in Issue #4, 2013 of Journal of Adolescent Health discuss recent changes to menus at two fast door restaurants; McDonalds and Subway. The first article examined what consumers actually purchased at restaurants rather than what was on their menus and found that, despite all of the branding imagery of Subways as a healthier alternative and, more recently by McDonald's to hype their healthy choices, there has essentially been no change in what is actually eaten at these restaurants. The second article examined what adolescents actually ate at both restaurants and found that there was no real difference, with the average caloric intake hovering around 1000 calories per meal. Given the recent announcements by some health groups that they will be working in partnership with McDonald's in the future, the appropriateness of that choice seems less than clear. Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) A supplementary issue of Childhood Obesity explores the influence that parents have on their children's physical activity, eating habits and use of media such as TV, games and other screen time. Several articles in the special issue explore different styles of parenting, role modeling and child-parent communications and other aspects. Parenting/family development models are applied to food, activity and screen use. Mini-research agendas are described. The editorial for the issue notes that measurement issues need considerable work in this area. The articles all appear to be excellent and interesting but sometimes i wonder if researchers on one health issue ever read the similar research that has already been done by people working on other health issues. Parenting and parental influences have already been well-described and discussed in respect to sexual health, substance abuse and problem behaviours as well as in regards to youth development and family systems in general. How much of tbhis is really new or noteworthy? Read more >>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) An article in the September 2013 Issue of Public Health Nutrition documents the value of a low-cost snack provided in a school-feeding programs in Kenyan school children. The study compared three types of snacks and found that "The Meat and Plain Githeri (i.e. githeri + oil) groups showed the greatest declines in the probability of a morbidity outcome (PMO) for total and severe illnesses, malaria, poor appetite, reduced activity, fever and chills. The Meat group showed significantly greater declines in PMO for gastroenteritis (mainly diarrhoea) and typhoid compared with the Control group, for jaundice compared with the Plain Githeri group, and for skin infection compared with the Milk group. The Milk group showed the greatest decline in PMO for upper respiratory infection. For nearly all morbidity outcomes the Control group had the highest PMO and the least decline over time." Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) Shape Up – a school-community approach to influencing the determinants of a healthy and balanced growing up (www.shapeupeurope.net) was a three-year project aimed at the development, implementation and assessment of an innovative approach to health promotion and health education concerning overweight and obesity in children and young people. The researchers report that ' Shape Up demonstrated that young people can be guided to successfully bring about health-promoting changes at the school and community level. For example, these chnages included healthier food consumption at school, new forms of physical activity, and increased interest, motivation and ability among children and young people to deal with health issues. More specifically, Shape Up has proven to be effective in initiating and bringing about health-promoting changes in the ecology of the school, including improvements at the school, parent, community/municipal and individual student levels.
(An item from ISHN Member information service) An article in the February 2013 issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity reported on a correlational assessment of school level capacity and the implementation of school nutrition policies and programs as well as the food offered to students. The authors report that "Our measurement framework integrated constructs from the Theories of Organizational Change and elements from Stillman’s Tobacco Policy Framework adapted for obesity prevention. Our measurement framework included assessment of policy institutionalization of nutritional guidelines at the district and school levels, climate, nutritional capacity and resources (nutritional resources and participation in nutritional programs), nutritional practices, and school community support for enacting stricter nutritional guidelines. We used hierarchical mixed-effects logistic regression analyses to examine associations with the availability of fruit, vegetables, pizza/hamburgers/hot dogs, chocolate candy, sugar-sweetened beverages, and french fried potatoes." They also found that "In elementary schools, fruit and vegetable availability was more likely among schools that have more nutritional resources (OR = 6.74 and 5.23, respectively). In addition, fruit availability in elementary schools was highest in schools that participated in the BC School Fruit and Vegetable Nutritional Program and the BC Milk program (OR = 4.54 and OR = 3.05, respectively). In middle/high schools, having more nutritional resources was associated with vegetable availability only (OR = 5.78). Finally, middle/high schools that have healthier nutritional practices (i.e., which align with upcoming provincial/state guidelines) were less likely to have the following food/beverage items available at school: chocolate candy (OR = .80) and sugar-sweetened beverages (OR = .76).Read More.
|
Welcome to our
|