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Myers, Helen, Leonie Segal, Derrick Lopez, Ian W. Li, and David B. Preen. "Impact of family-friendly prison policies on health, justice and child protection outcomes for incarcerated mothers and their dependent children: a cohort study protocol." BMJ Open 7, no. 8 (August 2017): e016302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016302.
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IntroductionFemale imprisonment has numerous health and social sequelae for both women prisoners and their children. Examples of comprehensive family-friendly prison policies that seek to improve the health and social functioning of women prisoners and their children exist but have not been evaluated. This study will determine the impact of exposure to a family-friendly prison environment on health, child protection and justice outcomes for incarcerated mothers and their dependent children.Methods and analysisA longitudinal retrospective cohort design will be used to compare outcomes for mothers incarcerated at Boronia Pre-release Centre, a women’s prison with a dedicated family-friendly environment, and their dependent children, with outcomes for mothers incarcerated at other prisons in Western Australia (that do not offer this environment) and their dependent children. Routinely collected administrative data from 1985 to 2013 will be used to determine child and mother outcomes such as hospital admissions, emergency department presentations, custodial sentences, community service orders and placement in out-of home care. The sample consists of all children born in Western Australia between 1 January 1985 and 31 December 2011 who had a mother in a West Australian prison between 1990 and 2012 and their mothers. Children are included if they were alive and aged less than 18 years at the time of their mother’s incarceration. The sample comprises an exposed group of 665 women incarcerated at Boronia and their 1714 dependent children and a non-exposed comparison sample of 2976 women incarcerated at other West Australian prisons and their 7186 dependent children, creating a total study sample of 3641 women and 8900 children.Ethics and disseminationThis project received ethics approval from the Western Australian Department of Health Human Research Ethics Committee, the Western Australian Aboriginal Health Ethics Committee and the University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee.
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Little, Helen, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, and Shirley Wyver. "Early Childhood Teachers' Beliefs about Children's Risky Play in Australia and Norway." Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood 13, no. 4 (January 1, 2012): 300–316. http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2012.13.4.300.
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Positive risk-taking in the context of outdoor physical play is important for fostering children's optimal health and development. Despite this, there is mounting concern that many developmentally beneficial activities are now seen as dangerous and something to be avoided. However, perceptions of risk are very much subject to cultural interpretation, and the growing risk aversion evident in some developed Western societies, such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, is less apparent in other developed countries, notably some of the European and Scandinavian countries. To explore some of these cultural differences, early childhood practitioners from Australia and Norway were interviewed regarding their provision of outdoor play experiences for children and their attitudes towards risk-taking in play. Practitioners from both countries recognised the importance of risky play for children's development and well-being. However, differences in the extent to which children's risky play was supported were evident. Factors associated with the quality of the outdoor environment, regulatory requirements, and a litigious environment were identified as constraining teaching practice for the Australian practitioners. The findings have implications for the development of policy that supports teachers' pedagogical decision-making in providing developmentally challenging play environments for children.
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Threlfall, Timothy, Neil Kent, Peter Garcia-Webb, Elizabeth Byrnes, and Paul Psaila-Savona. "Blood lead levels in children in Perth, Western Australia." Australian Journal of Public Health 17, no. 4 (February 12, 2010): 379–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-6405.1993.tb00172.x.
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Alsharif, Alla, Estie Kruger, and Marc Tennant. "Future projections of child oral-related hospital admission rates in Western Australia." Australian Journal of Primary Health 22, no. 6 (2016): 491. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/py15132.
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This study aimed to project the hospital admission rates of Western Australian children for oral conditions, with a particular focus on dental caries, embedded and impacted teeth, and pulp and periapical conditions through to the year 2026. Two methods were used to generate projection data through to the year 2026, using the Western Australian Hospital Morbidity Dataset for the period 1999–2000 to 2008–2009. The projected admission rate increase in those children aged 14 years and younger from 2000 to 2026 was 43%. The admission rates are expected to more than double over time (7317 cases in 2026 compared to only 3008 cases in 2000) for those children living in metropolitan areas. Dental caries, embedded and impacted teeth, and pulp and periapical conditions will remain the top (mostly) preventable causes of admission throughout this time. Anticipating the future burden of oral-related hospital admissions in children, in terms of expected numbers of cases, is vital for optimising the resource allocation for early diagnosis, prevention and treatment. A concerted effort will be required by policymakers and oral healthcare communities to effect substantial change for the future.
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Tiwari, Reena, and John Richard Stephens. "Trauma and healing at Western Australia’s former native missions." AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 16, no. 3 (August 12, 2020): 248–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1177180120948277.
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In Western Australia, the removal of mixed-descent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island children from parents into church-run institutions has caused ongoing damage to the social and emotional wellbeing of survivors and their descendants. Curtin University and Aboriginal organisations are attempting to utilise a number of defunct mission sites as Healing Centres for Stolen Generation survivors. But the rapid deterioration of missions and restricted access constrain use of the sites. Virtual reality offers a safe and accessible alternative to physical access. Layering this digital environment with knowledge and the lived experience of survivors and interweaving past and present experiences has the potential to provide a powerful platform for healing survivors and their families. A key aspect of this project was to ensure that a strength-based approach is used where Aboriginal people power share and collaborate in the projects ensuring that they have tangible control over their story and heritage.
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Godrich, Stephanie, Christina Davies, Jill Darby, and Amanda Devine. "Strategies to Address the Complex Challenge of Improving Regional and Remote Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Consumption." Nutrients 10, no. 11 (November 1, 2018): 1603. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu10111603.
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Fruit and vegetables (F&V) are imperative for good health, yet less than one per cent of Australian children consume these food groups in sufficient quantities. As guided by Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), this paper aimed to: (i) understand key informant perspectives of the amount, types and quality of F&V consumed by rural and remote Western Australian (WA) children; and, (ii) determine strategies that could increase F&V consumption among rural and remote WA children. This qualitative study included 20 semi-structured interviews with health, school/youth and food supply workers, focusing on topics including: quantity and type of F&V consumed and strategies to increase children’s consumption. A thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo qualitative data analysis software (Version 10, 2014. QSR International Pty Ltd., Doncaster, Victoria, Australia). Key informants reported children consumed energy-dense nutrient-poor foods in place of F&V. Strategy themes included: using relevant motivators for children to increase their preference for F&V (i.e., gaming approach, SCT construct of ‘expectations’); empowering community-driven initiatives (i.e., kitchen gardens, SCT construct of ‘environment’); increasing food literacy across settings (i.e., food literacy skills, SCT construct of ‘behavioural capacity’); developing salient messages and cooking tips that resonate with parents (i.e., parent newsletters, SCT construct of ‘self-control’); increasing F&V availability, safety, and convenience (i.e., school provision); and, considering the impact of role models that extend beyond the family (i.e., relatable role models, SCT construct of ‘observational learning’). Overall, a comprehensive strategy that incorporates relevant motivators for children and families, supports local initiatives, reinforces the range of role models that are involved with children and creates healthier environments, is required to increase F&V consumption among children.
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Martin, Karen, Alexandra Bremner, Jo Salmon, Michael Rosenberg, and Billie Giles-Corti. "Physical, Policy, and Sociocultural Characteristics of the Primary School Environment are Positively Associated With Children’s Physical Activity During Class Time." Journal of Physical Activity and Health 11, no. 3 (March 2014): 553–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2011-0443.
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Background:The objective of this study was to develop a multidomain model to identify key characteristics of the primary school environment associated with children’s physical activity (PA) during class-time.Methods:Accelerometers were used to calculate time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during class-time (CMVPA) of 408 sixth-grade children (mean ± SD age 11.1 ± 0.43 years) attending 27 metropolitan primary schools in Perth Western Australia. Child and staff self-report instruments and a school physical environment scan administered by the research team were used to collect data about children and the class and school environments. Hierarchical modeling identified key variables associated with CMVPA.Results:The final multilevel model explained 49% of CMVPA. A physically active physical education (PE) coordinator, fitness sessions incorporated into PE sessions and either a trained PE specialist, classroom teacher or nobody coordinating PE in the school, rather than the deputy principal, were associated with higher CMVPA. The amount of grassed area per student and sporting apparatus on grass were also associated with higher CMVPA.Conclusion:These results highlight the relevance of the school’s sociocultural, policy and physical environments in supporting class-based PA. Interventions testing optimization of the school physical, sociocultural and policy environments to support physical activity are warranted.
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Dontje, Manon L., Peter Eastwood, and Leon Straker. "Western Australian pregnancy cohort (Raine) Study: Generation 1." BMJ Open 9, no. 5 (May 2019): e026276. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026276.
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PurposeThe purpose of the Raine Study is to improve human health and well-being by studying the life-course of a cohort of Western Australians, based on a life-course conceptual framework that considers interactions between genetics, phenotypes, behaviours, the environment and developmental and social outcomes.ParticipantsBetween May 1989 and November 1991, 2900 pregnant women were enrolled in the Raine Study in Perth, Western Australia. In total, 2730 women gave birth to 2868 children (Generation 2) between August 1989 and April 1992. The mothers and fathers of Generation 2 are referred to as Generation 1 of the Raine Study. In the most recent Generation 1 follow-up, 636 mothers and 462 fathers participated.Findings to dateUntil the 26-year follow-up of Generation 1 the focus of research within the Raine Study was on outcomes in Generation 2, with information on the parents mainly being used to examine its influence on their children’s outcomes. For example, recent findings showed that several characteristics of mothers, such as obesity, early mid-gestational weight gain and socioeconomic status were associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, adiposity and cardiometabolic characteristics in offspring. Other findings showed that parents with back pain were more likely to have offspring who experienced back pain. Also, non-linear and dynamic relationships were found between maternal working hours and offspring overweight or obesity.Future plansThe Raine Study will continue to provide access to its dense longitudinal genetic, phenotypic, behavioural, environmental, developmental and social data to undertake studies with the ultimate goal of improving human health and well-being. Analyses of data from the recent Generation 1 year 26 follow-up are underway.Trial registration numberACTRN12617001599369
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Nathan, Andrea, Phoebe George, Michelle Ng, Elizabeth Wenden, Pulan Bai, Zino Phiri, and Hayley Christian. "Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Western Australian Children’s Physical Activity and Screen Time." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 5 (March 5, 2021): 2583. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052583.
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Physical activity is essential for children’s healthy development, yet COVID-19 physical distancing restrictions such as school closures and staying at home, playground closures, and the cancelling of organised community sport have dramatically altered children’s opportunities to be physically active. This study describes changes in levels of physical activity and screen time from February 2020 (i.e., before COVID-19 restrictions were introduced in Western Australia) to May 2020 (i.e., when COVID-19 restrictions were in place). Parents of children aged 5 to 9 years from Western Australia were eligible to participate and recruited through convenience sampling. An online survey instrument that included validated measures of their children’s physical activity (unstructured, organized, home-based, indoor/outdoor active play, dog play/walking), sociodemographic, and other potential confounders was administered to parents. Paired t-tests and mixed ANOVA models assessed changes in physical activity outcomes. The analytic sample comprised parents of 157 children who were 6.9 years of age (SD = 1.7) on average. Overall, weekly minutes of total physical activity (PA) did not change from before to during COVID-19. However, frequency and duration (total and home-based) of unstructured physical activity significantly increased. Outdoor play in the yard or street around the house, outdoor play in the park or playground or outdoor recreation area, and active indoor play at home all significantly increased. Frequency and total duration of organised physical activity significantly declined during COVID-19 distancing. During Western Australian COVID-19 restrictions, there was an increase in young children’s unstructured physical activity and outdoor play and a decrease in organised physical activity. It remains to be seen whether children’s increased physical activity has been sustained with the easing of physical distancing restrictions.
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Morgan, Ruth A. "Health, Hearth and Empire: Climate, Race and Reproduction in British India and Western Australia." Environment and History 27, no. 2 (May 1, 2021): 229–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.3197/096734021x16076828553511.
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In the wake of the Indian Uprising in 1857, British sanitary campaigner and statistician Florence Nightingale renewed her efforts to reform Britain's military forces at home and in India. With the Uprising following so soon after the Crimean War (1854-56), where poor sanitary conditions had also taken an enormous toll, in 1859 Nightingale pressed the British Parliament to establish a Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Army in India, which delivered its report in 1863. Western Australia was the only colony to present its case before the Commissioners as an ideal location for a foreign sanatorium, with glowing assessments offered by colonial elites and military physicians. In the meantime, Nightingale had also commenced an investigation into the health of Indigenous children across the British Empire. Nearly 150 schools responded to her survey from Ceylon, Natal, West Africa, Canada and Australia. The latter's returns came from just three schools in Western Australia: New Norcia, Annesfield in Albany and the Sisters of Mercy in Perth, which together yielded the highest death rate of the respondents. Although Nightingale herself saw these inquiries as separate, their juxtaposition invites closer analysis of the ways in which metropolitan elites envisioned particular racial futures for Anglo and indigenous populations of empire, and sought to steer them accordingly. The reports reflect prevailing expectations and anxieties about the social and biological reproduction of white society in the colonies, and the concomitant decline of Indigenous peoples. Read together, these two inquiries reveal the complex ways in which colonial matters of reproduction and dispossession, displacement and replacement, were mutually constituting concerns of empire. In this article I situate the efforts to attract white women and their wombs to the temperate colony of Western Australia from British India in the context of contemporary concerns about Anglo and Aboriginal mortality. In doing so, I reflect on the intersections of gender, race, medicine and environment in the imaginaries of empire in the mid-nineteenth century.
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Watson, David S., and Michele Clapin. "Ear health of Aboriginal primary school children in the Eastern Goldfields Region of Western Australia." Australian Journal of Public Health 16, no. 1 (February 12, 2010): 26–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-6405.1992.tb00020.x.
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Rogers, Ian, Noel Eatough, Meredith Borland, Anastasia Phillips, and Ian Jacobs. "Patterns of Presentation of Suspected Snakebite in Children in Western Australia from 1994 to 2004." Wilderness & Environmental Medicine 20, no. 3 (September 2009): 299–300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1580/08-weme-le-230r1.1.
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Barblett, Lennie, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Marianne Knaus, and Trudi Cooper. "Supporting Aboriginal families’ and children’s developing sense of belonging at KindiLink." Australasian Journal of Early Childhood 45, no. 4 (October 22, 2020): 309–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1836939120966079.
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This paper reports on findings from four case studies, as part of a large-scale study undertaken to evaluate the KindiLink initiative across Western Australia in remote, regional and metropolitan communities. KindiLink is an educator-led playgroup initiative in public school sites in Western Australia targeted at Aboriginal children and their families. KindiLink aims included the cultivation of Aboriginal families’ and children’s developing sense of belonging and engagement at their local primary school. A constructivist paradigm was used to describe the subjective experiences of individuals, which was important to ascertain if the aims of KindiLink had been met. To complement the meaning-making of the experience, qualitative data were collected via detailed studies of four KindiLink sites to capture similarities and differences of the settings and gain depth of experience through the voices of the participants. The study found KindiLink successfully connected Aboriginal children and families to schools and built a sense of belonging and productive relationships between families, staff, school and the community in a culturally safe space. Furthermore, KindiLink developed the capacity and confidence of parents as their children’s first teachers and supported the home learning environment. The Aboriginal Indigenous education officer in each programme was critical to the engagement of Aboriginal families and acknowledgement of cultural aspects important to children’s growing cultural identities. The relationships built between KindiLink staff and families, and between families, were important for children’s and their families’ growing sense of belonging to the school, which assisted participation at school.
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Northcote, Jeremy, and Peter J. Hancock. "Differences in Satifaction Ratigns of Carer-Respite Services between Carer Types: Results of a Western Australian Evaluation." Australian Journal of Primary Health 11, no. 3 (2005): 88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/py05047.
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Respite care offers caregivers a temporary relief from the duties of their caring role. This study examines whether caregivers' satisfaction ratings of the agencies that coordinate respite care services vary according to their relationship to the care-receiver. One hundred and seventy-seven clients of Australian Red Cross Carer Respite Centres in Western Australia were surveyed by telephone to determine their satisfaction levels with the information and referral services they received. Those caring for children - although expressing a generally high level of satisfaction - indicated significantly lower levels of satisfaction than other carer groups on two specific criteria: the initial provision of information and the ability of the centre to cater to all their needs. It is recommended that service providers, health practitioners and researchers alike pay close attention to different carer types in the design, implementation and evaluation of respite programs.
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Shepherd, Carrington C. J., Jianghong Li, and Stephen R. Zubrick. "Socioeconomic disparities in physical health among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Western Australia." Ethnicity & Health 17, no. 5 (October 2012): 439–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13557858.2012.654768.
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Power, Anne, and Debra Costley. "Preservice Teachers’ Learning Among Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder." Australasian Journal of Special Education 38, no. 1 (May 29, 2014): 34–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jse.2014.6.
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This article reports on a collaborative venture between Autism Spectrum Australia and the University of Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Social Club network was formed for children and adolescents to provide structured opportunities for positive peer interactions in safe, stimulating and nonjudgmental environments. The Social Clubs were run by expert facilitators with additional workers drawn from preservice teachers undertaking a service-learning unit of study within the Master of Teaching Secondary course at the University of Western Sydney. The research design included surveys and reflections. Data were drawn from 4 sources: 58 parent survey responses, 51 Social Club member survey responses, 9 facilitator survey responses and 9 preservice teachers’ reflections. Data analysis was framed by Bourdieu's work, which refers to the allocation of social power. After the experience, surveyed parents confirmed that their children were relaxed when changing topics in a conversation and working in groups. Members demonstrated that they engaged with other members and with preservice teachers. Club facilitators felt that the preservice teachers developed an understanding that students with autism spectrum disorder thrive in structured environments and that they would set up their own classrooms accordingly. For the future teachers, it was authentic learning that enriched their preparation for the classroom, however multilayered its student population might be.
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Lillee, Alyssa, Aesen Thambiran, and Jonathan Laugharne. "Evaluating the mental health of recently arrived refugee adults in Western Australia." Journal of Public Mental Health 14, no. 2 (June 15, 2015): 56–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jpmh-05-2013-0033.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure the levels of psychological distress in adults entering Western Australia (WA) as refugees through the Australian Humanitarian Programme. To determine if the introduction of mental health screening instruments impacts on the level of referrals for further psychological/psychiatric assessment and treatment. Design/methodology/approach – Participants were 300 consecutive consenting refugee adults attending the Humanitarian Entrant Health Service in Perth, WA. This service is government funded for the general health screening of refugees. The Kessler-10 (K10) and the World Health Organisation’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) screener were the principal outcome measures used. Findings – Refugees had a high rate of current probable PTSD (17.2 per cent) as measured with the PTSD screener and mean K10 scores were significantly higher than general population norms. The K10 showed high accuracy for discriminating those with or without probable PTSD. Being married and having more children increased the risk of probable PTSD. In regard to region of origin, refugees from Western and Southern Asia had significantly higher scores on both screeners followed by those from Africa with those from South-Eastern Asia having the lowest scores. Referral rate for psychiatric/psychological treatment was 18 per cent compared to 4.2 per cent in the year prior to the study. Practical implications – This study demonstrates increased psychological distress including a high rate of probable PTSD in a recently arrived multi-ethnic refugee population and also demonstrates significant variations based on region of origin. In addition, it supports the feasibility of using brief screening instruments to improve identification and referral of refugees with significant psychological distress in the context of a comprehensive general medical review. Originality/value – This was an Australian study conducted in a non-psychiatric setting. The outcomes of this study pertain to refugee mental health assessed in a general health setting. The implications of the study findings are of far reaching relevance, inclusive of primary care doctors and general physicians as well as mental health clinicians. In particular the authors note that the findings of this study are to the authors’ knowledge unique in the refugee mental health literature as the participants are recently arrived refugees from diverse ethnic groups.
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Standing, Craig, Ferry Jie, Thi Le, Susan Standing, and Sharon Biermann. "Analysis of the Use and Perception of Shared Mobility: A Case Study in Western Australia." Sustainability 13, no. 16 (August 5, 2021): 8766. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13168766.
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The sharing economy has acquired a lot of media attention in recent years, and it has had a significant impact on the transport sector. This paper investigates the existing impact and potential of various forms of shared mobility, concentrating on the case study of Wanneroo, Western Australia. We adopted bibliometric analysis and visualization tools based on nearly 700 papers collected from the Scopus database to identify research clusters on shared mobility. Based on the clusters identified, we undertook a further content analysis to clarify the factors affecting the potential of different shared mobility modes. A specially designed questionnaire was applied for Wanneroo’s residents to explore their use of shared mobility, their future behaviour intentions, and their perspectives on the advantages and challenges of adoption. The empirical findings indicate that the majority of respondents who had used shared mobility options in the last 12 months belong to the low-mean-age group. The younger age group of participants also showed positive views on shared mobility and would consider using it in the future. Household size in terms of number of children did not make any impact on shared mobility options. Preference for shared mobility services is not related to income level. Bike sharing was less commonly used than the other forms of shared mobility.
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Webb, Karen L., Marjaana Lahti-Koski, Ingrid Rutishauser, Debra J. Hector, Natalia Knezevic, Tim Gill, Jennifer K. Peat, and Stephen R. Leeder. "Consumption of ‘extra’ foods (energy-dense, nutrient-poor) among children aged 16–24 months from western Sydney, Australia." Public Health Nutrition 9, no. 8 (December 2006): 1035–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/phn2006970.
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AbstractObjectiveThis study evaluates the contribution of energy-dense, nutrient-poor ‘extra’ foods to the diets of 16–24-month-old children from western Sydney, Australia.DesignAn analysis of cross-sectional data collected on participants in the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study (CAPS), a randomised trial investigating the primary prevention of asthma from birth to 5 years. We collected 3-day weighed food records, calculated nutrient intakes, classified recorded foods into major food groups, and further classified foods as either ‘core’ or ‘extras’ according to theAustralian Guide to Healthy Eating.SettingPregnant women, whose unborn child was at risk of developing asthma because of a family history, were recruited from all six hospitals in western Sydney, Australia. Data for this study were collected in clinic visits and at participants’ homes at the 18-month assessment.ParticipantsFour hundred and twenty-nine children participating in the CAPS study; 80% of the total cohort.ResultsThe mean consumption of ‘extra’ foods was ∼150 g day− 1and contributed 25–30% of the total energy, fat, carbohydrate and sodium to the diets of the study children. ‘Extra’ foods also contributed around 20% of fibre, 10% of protein and zinc, and about 5% of calcium. Children in the highest quintile of ‘extra’ foods intake had a slightly higher but not significantly different intake of energy from those in the lowest quintile. However, significant differences were evident for the percentage of energy provided by carbohydrate and sugars (higher) and protein and saturated fat (lower). The intake of most micronutrients was also significantly lower among children in the highest quintile of consumption. The intake of ‘extra’ foods was inversely associated with the intake of core foods.ConclusionsThe high percentage of energy contributed by ‘extra’ foods and their negative association with nutrient density emphasise the need for dietary guidance for parents of children aged 1–2 years. These preliminary data on commonly consumed ‘extra’ foods and portion sizes may inform age-specific dietary assessment methods.
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Rousham, E. K., and M. Gracey. "Differences in growth among remote and town-dwelling Aboriginal children in the Kimberley region of Western Australia." Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 22, no. 6 (October 1998): 690–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842x.1998.tb01471.x.
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Pulker, Claire Elizabeth, Denise Chew Ching Li, Jane Anne Scott, and Christina Mary Pollard. "The Impact of Voluntary Policies on Parents’ Ability to Select Healthy Foods in Supermarkets: A Qualitative Study of Australian Parental Views." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 18 (September 12, 2019): 3377. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183377.
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Food packaging is used for marketing purposes, providing consumers with information about product attributes at the point-of-sale and thus influencing food choice. The Australian government focuses on voluntary policies to address inappropriate food marketing, including the Health Star Rating nutrition label. This research explored the way marketing via packaging information influences Australian parents’ ability to select healthy foods for their children, and who parents believe should be responsible for helping them. Five 90-min focus groups were conducted by an experienced facilitator in Perth, Western Australia. Four fathers and 33 mothers of children aged 2–8 years participated. Group discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim and inductive thematic content analysis conducted using NVivo11. Seven themes were derived: (1) pressure of meeting multiple demands; (2) desire to speed up shopping; (3) feeding them well versus keeping them happy; (4) lack of certainty in packaging information; (5) government is trusted and should take charge; (6) food manufacturers’ health messages are not trusted; (7) supermarkets should assist parents to select healthy foods. Food packaging information appears to be contributing to parents’ uncertainty regarding healthy food choices. Supermarkets could respond to parents’ trust in them by implementing structural policies, providing shopping environments that support and encourage healthy food choices.
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Ainsworth, Frank. "Social injustice for ‘at risk’ adolescents and their families." Children Australia 24, no. 1 (1999): 14–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s103507720000897x.
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For the last twenty-five years, in Australia and in most western type countries, the planning of services for children and families has been strongly influenced by a series of ideological concepts. These concepts are: deinstitutionalization, normalization, least restrictive environment, mainstreaming, minimal intervention, and diversion. Together they are the central tenets of a paradigm (CTP) currently used by policy makers and human service planners. This paper argues that the use of the CTP has had an unintended negative impact. It has lead to the neglect of the most difficult ‘at risk’ adolescents and their families. What we have is a situation where services of sufficient power, intensity and duration (PID) needed by this group are not favoured since they do not conform to the CTP. For ‘at risk’ adolescents and their families this is socially unjust.
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Wilkins, A., H. Leonard, P. Jacoby, E. MacKinnon, P. Clohessy, S. Forouhgi, and L. Slack-Smith. "Evaluation of the processes of family-centred care for young children with intellectual disability in Western Australia." Child: Care, Health and Development 36, no. 5 (June 1, 2010): 709–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2214.2010.01104.x.
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LIN, XIAOPING, CHRISTINA BRYANT, JENNIFER BOLDERO, and BRIONY DOW. "Older people's relationships with their adult children in multicultural Australia: a comparison of Australian-born people and Chinese immigrants." Ageing and Society 37, no. 10 (August 30, 2016): 2103–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x16000829.
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ABSTRACTAgainst the background of population ageing and increasing cultural diversity in many Western countries, the study examined differences and similarities between Australian-born people and Chinese immigrants in their relationships with adult children. The specific research questions were: (a) are there differences between these groups in the nature of parent–child relationships; and (b) if there were differences, did these differences reflect the Confucian concept of filial piety among older Chinese immigrants. The solidarity–conflict model and the concept of ambivalence were used to quantify parent–child relationships. Data from 122 community-dwelling people aged 65 and over (60 Australian-born and 62 Chinese-born people) were collected using standardised interviews. There were significant differences between the two groups for all relationship dimensions except associative solidarity. Compared to Australian participants, Chinese participants were more likely to live with their children. However, when they did not live with their children, they lived further away. They were also more likely to receive, but less likely to provide, instrumental help. Finally, they reported higher levels of normative solidarity, conflict and ambivalence, and lower levels of affectual and consensual solidarity. The differences in solidarity dimensions persisted when socio-demographic variables were controlled for. The study revealed complex differences in the nature of older parent–child relationships between Australian-born people and Chinese immigrants. Some of these differences, such as more prevalent multigenerational living among older Chinese immigrants, likely reflect the strong influence of filial piety among this group. However, differences in other dimensions, such as lower levels of consensual solidarity, might be associated with the Chinese participants’ experience as immigrants. This study also highlights the usefulness of the solidarity–conflict model as a theoretical framework to understand the nature of parent–child relationships among older Chinese immigrants.
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Robinson, Christine. "Young children’s spirituality: A focus on engaging with nature." Australasian Journal of Early Childhood 44, no. 4 (November 21, 2019): 339–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1836939119870907.
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The mandated early childhood framework in Australia requires educators working in early childhood services to attend to children’s spirituality. Also, one of the five outcomes in this framework tasks educators with promoting children’s connectedness with and contribution to the world, including natural environments. In this paper I present findings from a qualitative investigation to determine educators’ understandings and practices around promoting young children’s spirituality in the context of religious childcare centres in Western Australia aligned with a focus on nature engagement. A social constructivist theoretical perspective with a phenomenological and interpretivist paradigm framed the research. Interview and observational data were collected and analysed through interpretative phenomenological analysis revealing that educators were able to articulate the connection between spirituality and engagement with nature in childhood. However, in practice, educators rarely offered opportunities for children to experience nature. Recommendations include the provision of professional development in the area of children’s spirituality and its connection with nature along with the creation of guidelines on pedagogical practices that afford children opportunities to engage with their spirituality through nature.
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Currie, Jan, Barry Kissane, and Harriett Pears. "An Enriched Mathematical Program for Young Aboriginal Children." Aboriginal Child at School 20, no. 1 (March 1992): 15–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0310582200007707.
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AbstractThis paper provides some early results on a project designed to improve Aboriginal children's performance in mathematics, starting from their earliest introduction to number work. It explores the use of an enriched mathematics environment that minimally conflicts with traditional Aboriginal learning styles. The study is concerned with evaluating the effectiveness of a program intervention in remote Aboriginal schools, based on the results of pre- and post-interviews given to children at eight different schools in Western Australia at the beginning and end of 1989 and 1990. Comparison data with those for children at other schools are provided in this paper. The data derive from interviews with young children, and provide evidence on their performance in several key areas of early mathematics. Schools were categorized into three groups: White middle class; town Aboriginal and working class; and remote Aboriginal. The White middle class schools had the highest performance, followed by the town Aboriginal and White working class schools and the remote Aboriginal schools. There was a rather consistent gain in mean scores for most schools of around four points over the course of the first year so that existing differences between schools at the beginning of the year were still evident at the end of the year. At this stage it is difficult to conclude whether the intervention program has improved mathematics achievement for this group of remote Aboriginal children. There is at least no evidence of ‘progressive retardation’, which describes the current situation where Aboriginal children fall farther behind as they progress through school.
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Tester, GJ, GG Watkins, and I. Rouse. "The Sports Challenge International Programme for Identified ‘At Risk' Children and Adolescents: A Singapore Study." Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health 11, no. 1 (January 1999): 34–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/101053959901100108.
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The current world wide phenomena of youth suicide which became a major issue for countries in the early nineties, is still growing exponentially. The Sports Challenge program was initiated in 1992 in Western Australia to identify ‘at risk' children and adolescents who display: a low sense of basic trust, a sense of shame and doubt, a sense of inferiority and a sense of identity confusion with common characteristics of low self esteem. The subsequent program is based on a strong statistical paradigm encompassing current and historical information with reliable and objective evaluation measures. To this end, since 1992, Sports Challenge has been recognised as a ‘World Best Practice' in redressing the issue of ‘at risk' children and adolescents. The program now operates in over 150 schools and communities throughout Australia and 24 schools and Detention Centres in Singapore. This paper will allow a window into the development of the program and the successful transfer of the project into Singapore. The Singapore study which began in 1996 has revealed the success of the Sports Challenge program cross culturally with improvement in self esteem and self concept of ‘at risk' groups in the range of 18% to 44%.
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Goris, Janny M., Solveig Petersen, Emmanuel Stamatakis, and J. Lennert Veerman. "Television food advertising and the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity: a multicountry comparison." Public Health Nutrition 13, no. 7 (December 17, 2009): 1003–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1368980009992850.
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AbstractObjectiveTo estimate the contribution of television (TV) food advertising to the prevalence of obesity among 6–11-year-old children in Australia, Great Britain (England and Scotland only), Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United States.DesignData from contemporary representative studies on the prevalence of childhood obesity and on TV food advertising exposure in the above countries were entered into a mathematical simulation model. Two different effect estimators were used to calculate the reduction in prevalence of overweight and obesity in the absence of TV food advertising in each country; one based on literature and one based on experts’ estimates.SettingSix- to eleven-year-old children in six Western countries.ResultsEstimates of the average exposure of children to TV food advertising range from 1·8 min/d in The Netherlands to 11·5 min/d in the United States. Its contribution to the prevalence of childhood obesity is estimated at 16 %–40 % in the United States, 10 %–28 % in Australia and Italy and 4 %–18 % in Great Britain, Sweden and The Netherlands.ConclusionsThe contribution of TV advertising of foods and drinks to the prevalence of childhood obesity differs distinctly by country and is likely to be significant in some countries.
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Bell, Megan F., Donna M. Bayliss, Rebecca Glauert, and Jeneva L. Ohan. "Developmental vulnerabilities in children of chronically ill parents: a population-based linked data study." Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 73, no. 5 (February 21, 2019): 393–400. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2018-210992.
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BackgroundCurrently, there is mixed evidence regarding the effects on children when a parent is chronically ill. Research has also primarily been conducted with adolescent samples. This study investigated developmental vulnerabilities in young children of parents with chronic illness.MethodsThis study used linked administrative data. The study population included children born in Western Australia during 2003–2004 (n=19 071; mean age 5.5 years). The outcome measure was a score in the bottom 25% on any of the five developmental domains (physical, social, emotional, communicative and cognitive) of the Australian Early Development Census (2009 collection). Parental chronic illnesses were identified from hospital and cancer registry records, during the period from 1 year prior to the child’s birth and until the end of 2009.ResultsHigher odds of developmental vulnerabilities in physical, social, emotional and communication domains were observed for daughters of chronically ill mothers. Sons of chronically ill mothers had increased odds of language and cognitive difficulties. Risk level increased with each additional year of exposure to maternal chronic illness. Results also indicated increased odds of developmental vulnerabilities for children of mothers experiencing multiple compared with single chronic conditions; however, results were not statistically significant (all p>0.05). No association between fathers’ chronic illness and children’s developmental outcomes was found.ConclusionsMaternal chronic illness is associated with an increased risk of poor developmental outcomes for children, particularly daughters. Healthcare services have an important role to play in linking families into appropriate family-centred services to best support the needs of chronically ill mothers.
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Leggett, Nicole, and Linda Newman. "Play: Challenging Educators' Beliefs about Play in the Indoor and Outdoor Environment." Australasian Journal of Early Childhood 42, no. 1 (March 2017): 24–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.23965/ajec.42.1.03.
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WESTERN DISCOURSES OF EARLY childhood pedagogy promote a play-based approach to learning, growth and development. However, play is a contested concept. Educators' understandings can vary from allowing freedom for children to play without interference, through to a range of adult engagement levels. The Australian Early Years Learning Framework adopts a play-based approach to children's growth and development, though says little about adult roles or intentionality in play. This paper draws from recent research that explored educators' beliefs and understandings of their roles as intentional teachers within indoor and outdoor learning environments. Findings highlighted differences between role and responsibility perceptions whereby educators shifted roles from teacher to supervisor between contexts. Drawing on Vygotsky's sociocultural approach that regards play as a social event and the leading source of development, promoting cognitive, emotional and social development in young children (Connery, John-Steiner & Marjanovic-Shane, 2010), we believe that a re-examination of the role of the educator in children's play requires specific attention. Finally, based on the research, we contest the notion of ‘free play’. This paper suggests that by acknowledging the role of the educator as an intentional teacher both indoors and outdoors, and emphasising the complexity of the educator role, a more robust definition of play that is reflective of contemporary early childhood contexts and curricula can evolve to strengthen educator understanding and practice.
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Preen, David B., Janine Calver, Frank M. Sanfilippo, Max Bulsara, and C. D'Arcy J. Holman. "Patterns of psychostimulant prescribing to children with ADHD in Western Australia: variations in age, gender, medication type and dose prescribed." Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 31, no. 2 (April 2007): 120–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-6405.2007.00028.x.
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Bell, Megan F., Gavin Turrell, Bridget Beesley, Bryan Boruff, Gina Trapp, Stephen R. Zubrick, and Hayley E. Christian. "Children’s neighbourhood physical environment and early development: an individual child level linked data study." Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 74, no. 4 (January 20, 2020): 321–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2019-212686.
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BackgroundIdentification of features of the neighbourhood physical environment that have a causal association with positive child development is important for promoting long-term developmental health. Previous research on these associations have been conducted at the neighbourhood level, and do not account for individual variation in exposure to these features.MethodsThis cross-sectional study utilised de-identified linked administrative data. Neighbourhood features were measured with Geographic Information Systems and identified within a 1600 m service area around the child’s home address. The study population included a random selection of 5024 Western Australian children who participated in the 2012 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC; median age 5 years, 5 months). Multi-level logistic regressions modelled the odds of children scoring in the bottom 10% on the physical, social or emotional AEDC domains as an outcome of neighbourhood features.ResultsAfter adjustment for individual and neighbourhood sociodemographic factors, lower odds of physical vulnerability were associated with increased neighbourhood residential density, presence of railway station, and higher counts of playgroups and kindergartens. Larger areas of neighbourhood home-yard space were associated with increased odds of physical and social vulnerability. Presence of high-quality green spaces was associated with lower odds of social vulnerability. Increased road traffic exposure was associated with higher odds of social and emotional vulnerability.ConclusionsThe neighbourhood physical environment has a weak but significant association with early childhood development. Future research should consider the interplay between the neighbourhood environment and proximal influences, including parenting attributes and socioeconomic status, and how they influence early child development.
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Moorin, Rachael E., and Delia Hendrie. "The epidemiology and cost of falls requiring hospitalisation in children in Western Australia: A study using linked administrative data." Accident Analysis & Prevention 40, no. 1 (January 2008): 216–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2007.05.008.
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Power, Gregory P., M. Ann Ritchie, Kitty J. Drok, and Ian D. Macleod FTSE. "Ian Mackay Ritchie 1936–2014." Historical Records of Australian Science 28, no. 1 (2017): 50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/hr16016.
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Ian Ritchie AO, BA, MA, MEng, PhD, ScD, FTSE, FRACI, FAIMM; scientist, engineer, teacher and humanist, brought fresh understanding and relevance to the relationships between metals and fluids through his work on metal oxidation, electrochemistry and hydrometallurgy. Passionate about education, society and the environment, he constantly sought new ways to interest young people in science and its role in the future wellbeing of human society and the fragile Earth. He served the community with energy and dedication as a valued advisor to government, industry and academia. He contributed much to the establishment of air quality standards in Western Australia, and is credited with preventing the dismantling of the WA Government Chemical Laboratories and steering them to rebirth as the ChemCentre. He was the founding CEO of the AJ Parker CRC for Hydrometallurgy, which became the world's foremost centre for hydrometallurgical research under his inspirational leadership. Ian was a kind and humble man with huge talent who was always ready to share his wisdom. He was a passionate and prolific scientist, but his greatest joy came from his family—Ann, the love of his life, and his three wonderful children, Kathy, Andrew and Alex. Driven by a deep sense of fairness, he railed against injustice and stupidity wherever he saw it. All who knew him will miss his ready wit, awesome erudition and endless creativity, but the imprint of his contribution and influence will never fade. He was inducted to theWestern Australian Science Hall of Fame in 2016.
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Stevenson, M., and P. Palamara. "Motor vehicle occupant injuries in children 2 years and younger: a comparison between Western Australia and New South Wales 1982-92." Injury Prevention 1, no. 4 (December 1, 1995): 245–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip.1.4.245.
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Shepherd, Carrington C. J., Holly D. Clifford, Francis Mitrou, Shannon M. Melody, Ellen J. Bennett, Fay H. Johnston, Luke D. Knibbs, et al. "The Contribution of Geogenic Particulate Matter to Lung Disease in Indigenous Children." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 15 (July 24, 2019): 2636. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16152636.
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Indigenous children have much higher rates of ear and lung disease than non-Indigenous children, which may be related to exposure to high levels of geogenic (earth-derived) particulate matter (PM). The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between dust levels and health in Indigenous children in Western Australia (W.A.). Data were from a population-based sample of 1077 Indigenous children living in 66 remote communities of W.A. (>2,000,000 km2), with information on health outcomes derived from carer reports and hospitalisation records. Associations between dust levels and health outcomes were assessed by multivariate logistic regression in a multi-level framework. We assessed the effect of exposure to community sampled PM on epithelial cell (NuLi-1) responses to non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) in vitro. High dust levels were associated with increased odds of hospitalisation for upper (OR 1.77 95% CI [1.02–3.06]) and lower (OR 1.99 95% CI [1.08–3.68]) respiratory tract infections and ear disease (OR 3.06 95% CI [1.20–7.80]). Exposure to PM enhanced NTHi adhesion and invasion of epithelial cells and impaired IL-8 production. Exposure to geogenic PM may be contributing to the poor respiratory health of disadvantaged communities in arid environments where geogenic PM levels are high.
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Chepulis, Lynne, Nadine Everson, Rhoda Ndanuko, and Gael Mearns. "The nutritional content of children’s breakfast cereals: a cross-sectional analysis of New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Canada and the USA." Public Health Nutrition 23, no. 9 (December 18, 2019): 1589–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1368980019003537.
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AbstractObjective:To compare the Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) content, serving size and package size of children’s ready-to-eat breakfast cereals (RTEC) available in five different Western countries.Design:NIP label information was collected from RTEC available for purchase in major supermarket chains. Kruskal–Wallis, Mann–Whitney U and χ2 tests were applied to detect differences between countries on manufacturer-declared serving size, total energy (kJ), total protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, total sugar, Na and fibre content. The Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion (NPSC) was used to evaluate the number of products deemed to be ‘unhealthy’.Setting:Supermarkets in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.Participants:Children’s breakfast cereals (n 636), including those with and without promotional characters.Results:The majority of children’s RTEC contained substantial levels of total sugar and differences were apparent between countries. Median sugar content per serving was higher in US cereals than all other countries (10·0 v. 7·7–9·1 g; P < 0·0001). Median fat and saturated fat content were lowest in Australia and New Zealand RTEC, while the Na content of RTEC was 60–120 % higher in the USA and Canada than in Australia and the UK (all P ≤ 0·01).Conclusions:Across all countries, there was a high proportion of RTEC marketed for children that had an unhealthy nutrient profile. Strategies and policies are needed to improve the nutrient value of RTEC for children, so they provide a breakfast food that meets nutrition guidelines.
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Hnatiuk, Jill A., Genevieve Dwyer, Emma S. George, and Andrew Bennie. "Co-participation in physical activity: perspectives from Australian parents of pre-schoolers." Health Promotion International 35, no. 6 (March 19, 2020): 1474–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daaa022.
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Abstract Co-participation in physical activity may be important for helping families with young children meet physical activity recommendations. Yet, little is known about what families perceive to be the benefits, barriers and facilitators of co-participation. This study explored (i) parents’ perceptions about physical activity and possible benefits of family-based co-participation in physical activity, (ii) their perceived facilitators and barriers to co-participation and (iii) their recommendations for improving co-participation within their community. Fifteen parents (14 mothers, 1 father) of 2- to 4-year-old children residing in Western Sydney, Australia, participated in one-on-one interviews between September 2016 and January 2017. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Four main themes and seven sub-themes emerged from the thematic analysis of the interview data. When parents were asked to reflect on their understanding of physical activity, they discussed a range of well-known activities (e.g. active play, active transport) and also reported ‘anything but screen time’. The major benefits parents reported about co-participation were spending quality time together, improving children’s general health and well-being and the development of physical skills. Social (e.g. social networks, negative stereotypes) and environmental (e.g. home space, neighbourhood design, shading) facilitators and barriers were identified, yet their impact on co-participation often varied depending on the presence (or lack thereof) of other factors in the physical or social environment. Key recommendations suggested by parents included improvements to home outdoor spaces, neighbourhood design and play spaces and community services.
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Miller, Marian, and Barbara Hughes. "A Community Partnership with Parents: Investing in the Future." Australian Journal of Primary Health 5, no. 4 (1999): 28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/py99048.
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This article presents the findings of a home based parents support program that focuses on the human environment surrounding children. In collaboration between a health service, a public health unit and a university school of nursing in Perth, Western Australia, a three year (1995-1998) health promotion pilot project has been implemented. The program model is based on the Child Development Program developed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland in the early eighties. This empowerment program is comprehensive, rather than targeting particular issues and focuses on the family's child-rearing environment in holistic terms. Raising the self-esteem of parents is a priority on the grounds that people lacking self-esteem and confidence often struggle to cope with life events and the demands of child rearing. The program, a partnership between community child health nurses and the community, recognises and builds on the skills of experienced mothers. Through semi-structured home visits, these women provide peer support and encouragement for new parents in their fundamental role of parenting. Evaluated through the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data, the outcomes of the pilot project have demonstrated an increase in the self-esteem of mothers, and gains in child development, immunisation, breast-feeding and family nutrition. In addition there is evidence of parents 'looking out for each other' and indications of a strengthening of social cohesion in the local community.
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Bury, Keira, Jonine Jancey, and Justine E. Leavy. "Parent Mobile Phone Use in Playgrounds: A Paradox of Convenience." Children 7, no. 12 (December 10, 2020): 284. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children7120284.
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Creating social and physical environments that promote good health is a key component of a social determinants approach. For the parents of young children, a smartphone offers opportunities for social networking, photography and multi-tasking. Understanding the relationship between supervision, mobile phone use and injury in the playground setting is essential. This research explored parent mobile device use (MDU), parent–child interaction in the playground, parent attitudes and perceptions towards MDU and strategies used to limit MDU in the playground. A mixed-methods approach collected naturalistic observations of parents of children aged 0–5 (n = 85) and intercept interviews (n = 20) at four metropolitan playgrounds in Perth, Western Australia. Most frequently observed MDU was scrolling (75.5%) and telephone calls (13.9%). Increased duration of MDU resulted in a reduction in supervision, parent–child play and increased child injury potential. The camera function offered the most benefits. Strategies to prevent MDU included turning to silent mode, wearing a watch and environmental cues. MDU was found to contribute to reduced supervision of children, which is a risk factor for injury. This is an emerging area of injury prevention indicating a need for broader strategies addressing the complex interplay between the social determinants and the developmental younger years.
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Giamminuti, Stefania, and Danica See. "Early Childhood Educators’ Perspectives on Children’s Rights." International Journal of Children’s Rights 25, no. 1 (June 20, 2017): 24–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15718182-02501002.
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There is a need to understand better the role that early childhood educators’ perspectives on children’s rights play in informing pedagogical practice. In the Australian context there is unease regarding the place of children’s rights in current curriculum policy. This article examines how educators’ perspectives on children’s rights inform and influence their pedagogical practice. The ethnographic study reported here involved the participation of three early childhood teachers located in one Western Australian metropolitan primary school, and generated data through the combination of walking tours, photographs of the school environment, and a focus-group interview. Themes of “Access” and “Power-fullness” emerged from the data as local values illustrating the relationship between images of childhood held by teachers and pedagogical practice. The theoretical propositions of “Pedagogy of Place and Space” and “Pedagogy of Possibilities” are offered as provocations for educators of young children wishing to enhance their practice with a children’s rights-based discourse.
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Pettigrew, Simone, Melanie Pescud, and Robert J. Donovan. "Traffic light food labelling in schools and beyond." Health Education Journal 71, no. 6 (October 31, 2011): 746–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0017896911424659.
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Objective: The present study investigated stakeholders’ reactions to the introduction of a traffic light food classification system in primary and secondary school canteens. Design: Interviews and focus groups were conducted with stakeholders approximately 18 months after the introduction of the traffic light system, followed by telephone and web-based surveys. Setting: The context of the study was Western Australia, where a comprehensive healthy food policy was recently introduced in government schools. Method: Stakeholder groups included parents, principals, teachers, canteen managers, and representatives of parents and citizens committees. Results: Participants reported high levels of acceptance of the traffic light system and supported its extension to nutrition education programmes targeting children and parents. Conclusion: The results suggest that there is likely to be considerable support for an extension of the traffic light policy to the health curriculum in schools and into other food provision contexts.
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Pool, Dayna, and Catherine Elliott. "Kindy Moves: a protocol for establishing the feasibility of an activity-based intervention on goal attainment and motor capacity delivered within an interdisciplinary framework for preschool aged children with cerebral palsy." BMJ Open 11, no. 8 (August 2021): e046831. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046831.
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IntroductionPreschool aged children with cerebral palsy (CP) and like conditions are at risk of performing below their peers in key skill areas of school readiness. Kindy Moves was developed to support school readiness in preschool aged children with CP and like conditions that are dependent on physical assistance and equipment throughout the day. The primary aims are to determine the feasibility of motor-based interventions that are functional and goal directed, adequately dosed and embedded into a play environment with interdisciplinary support to optimise goal-driven outcomes.Methods and analysisForty children with CP and like conditions aged between 2 and 5 years with a Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level of III–V or equivalent, that is, dependent on physical assistance and equipment will be recruited in Western Australia. Participants will undertake a 4-week programme, comprised three, 2-hour sessions a week consisting of floor time, gross motor movement and play (30 min), locomotor treadmill training (30 min), overground walking in gait trainers (30 min) and table-top activities (30 min). The programme is group based with 3–4 children of similar GMFCS levels in each group. However, each child will be supported by their own therapist providing an interdisciplinary and goal directed approach. Primary outcomes of this feasibility study will be goal attainment (Goal Attainment Scale) and secondary outcomes will include Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, 10 metre walk test, Children’s Functional Independence Measure, Sleep Disturbance Scale, Infant and Toddler Quality of Life Questionnaire, Peabody Developmental Motor Scale and Gross Motor Function Measure. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, post intervention (4 weeks) and retention at the 4-week follow-up.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was obtained from Curtin University Human Ethics Committee (HRE2019-0073). Results will be disseminated through published manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and public seminars for stakeholder groups.Trial registration numberAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12619000064101p).
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Johnston, Robyn, Lydia Hearn, Donna Cross, Laura T. Thomas, and Sharon Bell. "Parent voices guide smoking intervention development." Health Education 115, no. 5 (August 3, 2015): 455–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/he-03-2014-0024.
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Purpose – While parents’ influence on their children’s smoking behaviour is widely recognised, little is known about parents of four to eight year olds’ attitudes and beliefs around smoking cessation and how they communicate with their children about smoking. The purpose of this paper is to explore parents’ perceptions of quitting smoking and their beliefs and actions related to the use of parenting practices to discourage smoking by their children. Design/methodology/approach – Four focus groups and 17 interviews were conducted with parents (n=46) of four to eight year old children in Perth, Western Australia. Findings – Many parents indicated their children strongly influenced their quitting behaviours, however, some resented being made to feel guilty about their smoking because of their children. Parents were divided in their beliefs about the amount of influence they had on their children’s future smoking. Feelings of hypocrisy appear to influence the extent to which parents who smoked talked with their child about smoking. Parents recommended a variety of resource options to support quitting and talking with their child about smoking. Practical implications – Interventions aimed at parents who smoke and have young children should: reinforce parents’ importance as role models; highlight the importance of talking to children about smoking when they are young and provide strategies for maintaining ongoing communication; be supportive and avoid making parents feel guilty; and emphasise that quitting smoking is the best option for their child’s health (and their own), while also providing effective harm minimisation options for parents who have not yet quit. Originality/value – Parents of children of lower primary school age can be highly influential on their children’s later smoking behaviours, thus, effective interventions that address the current beliefs and practices of these parents may be particularly advantageous.
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Joseph, Dawn, and Richard Johnson. "Intercultural practicum: Perceptual learning through video in the pandemic context." Teachers' Work 17, no. 1and2 (December 14, 2020): 56–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.24135/teacherswork.v17i1and2.309.
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In our work with Australian initial teacher education (ITE) students our emphasis is on encouraging students to understand different cultural practices. Drawing on narrative reflection, we discuss intercultural and pedagogical concerns in which ITE students undertake international practicums. We recognise these students have a predominantly Western lens when undertaking practicums in Asian countries. To address this issue a video A Day in the Life… of Tamil School Children (https://youtu.be/vPdiogRR-Ig) in India was produced to change, improve and help students learn about the social and cultural environment of the ‘international student’. Students who took part in previous international practicums agreed that the video was an effective tool for cultural familiarisation. During this time of COVID-19 with travel restrictions abroad, the video resource serves as an effective visual pedagogy to build cultural understanding, embrace diversity, enable perceptual learning and empowering students to cultivate intercultural understandings of ‘the other’.
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Tartaglia, Jennifer, Michelle McIntosh, Jonine Jancey, Jane Scott, and Andrea Begley. "Exploring Feeding Practices and Food Literacy in Parents with Young Children from Disadvantaged Areas." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 4 (February 4, 2021): 1496. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041496.
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Early childhood provides an opportunity to optimize growth and development and parents play a fundamental role in forming healthy eating habits in their children. A healthy diet improves quality of life and wellbeing and reduces the risk of chronic disease. The aim of this research was to explore parents’ experiences of feeding 0–5-year-old children and food literacy behaviors. This qualitative study employed a general inductive inquiry approach. Participants were recruited through community-based parenting organizations in disadvantaged areas. Eight focus groups were conducted with 67 parents (92.5% female) living in socially disadvantaged areas within metropolitan Perth of Western Australia. Ten themes emerged from the preliminary analysis and were aligned with domains of relatedness, autonomy, and competence within the self-determination theory. Themes included relatedness (1) feeding is emotional, (2) variations in routine and feeding structures, (3) external influences, autonomy (4) power struggles, (5) it must be quick and easy, (6) lack of strategies for feeding autonomy, competency (7) whatever works, (8) healthy is important but for some unattainable, (9) improvements in food literacy skills, and (10) conflicting information overload. This research informed the development of a food literacy program for parents. Parents faced many challenges when trying to provide healthy food. This research has shown parents would benefit from support to achieve healthy eating practices for their families.
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Fernando, S., S. K. Tadakamadla, M. Bakr, P. A. Scuffham, and N. W. Johnson. "Indicators of Risk for Dental Caries in Children: A Holistic Approach." JDR Clinical & Translational Research 4, no. 4 (April 30, 2019): 333–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2380084419834236.
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Background Dental caries in children is a major public health problem worldwide, with a multitude of determinants acting upon children to different degrees in different communities. The objective of this study was to determine maternal, environmental, and intraoral indicators of dental caries experience in a sample of 6- to 7-y-old children in South East Queensland, Australia. Methods: A total of 174 mother-child dyads were recruited for this cross-sectional study from the Griffith University Environments for Healthy Living birth cohort study. Maternal education, employment status, and prepregnancy body mass index were maternal indicators, and annual household income was taken as a proxy for environmental indicators. These were collected as baseline data of the study. Clinical data on children’s dental caries experience, saliva characteristics of buffering capacity, stimulated flow rate, and colony-forming units per milliliter of salivary mutans streptococci were collected for the oral health substudy. Univariate analysis was performed with 1-way analysis of variance and chi-square tests. Caries experience was the outcome, which was classified into 4 categories based on the number of carious tooth surfaces. Ordinal logistic regression was used to explore the association of risk indicators with caries experience. Results: Age ( P = 0.021), low salivary buffering capacity ( P = 0.001), reduced levels of salivary flow rate ( P = 0.011), past caries experience ( P = 0.001), low annual household income; <$30,000 (P = 0.050) and <$60,000 (P = 0.033) and maternal employment status ( P = 0.043) were associated with high levels of dental caries. Conclusion These data support the evidence of associations between maternal, environmental, and children’s intraoral characteristics and caries experience among children in a typical Western industrialized country. All of these need to be considered in preventative strategies within families and communities. Knowledge Transfer Statement: The results of this study can be used by clinicians, epidemiologists, and policy makers to identify children who are at risk of developing dental caries. With consideration of costs for treatment for the disease, this information could be used to plan cost-effective and patient-centered preventive care.
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Silva, Desiree T., Erika Hagemann, Jacqueline A. Davis, Lisa Y. Gibson, Ravisha Srinivasjois, Debra J. Palmer, Lyn Colvin, Jamie Tan, and Susan L. Prescott. "Introducing the ORIGINS project: a community-based interventional birth cohort." Reviews on Environmental Health 35, no. 3 (August 27, 2020): 281–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2020-0057.
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Abstract Objectives Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) pose the greatest threat to human health globally. The dramatic rise in early onset NCDs – such as childhood obesity, the allergy epidemic and an increasing burden of mental ill health in children and youth – reflect the profound early impact of modern environments on developing systems. The ORIGINS Project is a research platform enabling world class investigation of early antecedent pathways to NCDs, and how to curtail these. As well as facilitating strategic long-term research capacity, ORIGINS is a pipeline for short-term productivity through a series of clinical trials, early interventions, mechanistic studies, and targeted research questions to improve maternal and paternal health and the early environment. Methods ORIGINS is a decade-long collaborative initiative between the Joondalup Health Campus (JHC) and the Telethon Kids Institute (TKI) to establish a Western Australian (WA) birth cohort of 10,000 families, enrolled during pregnancy. It is currently funded to follow up participating children and their families to five years of age. Comprehensive data and biological samples are collected from participants at up to 15 different timepoints, from the first antenatal clinic visit. In the process, ORIGINS is creating a major research platform, consisting of an extensive, world class biobank and databank. Of key strength and novelty, ORIGINS includes a series of harmonised nested sub-projects integrated with clinical and diagnostic services and providing real-time feedback to improve the health of individuals and the community. Conclusions At its core, ORIGINS aims to improve the health and quality of life of the next generation through improved pathways to optimise the early environment and reduce adversity by promoting primary prevention, early detection and early intervention. This dynamic, interactive, community-based project not only provides novel research capacity, productivity, collaboration and translational impact on future generations – it is also anticipated to have flow on benefits for community engagement, cohesion and purpose. This will provide a sentinel example for tailored replication in other communities around the world as part of interconnected grass root strategies to improve planetary health.
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Rudd, James R., Laura O’Callaghan, and Jacqueline Williams. "Physical Education Pedagogies Built upon Theories of Movement Learning: How Can Environmental Constraints Be Manipulated to Improve Children’s Executive Function and Self-Regulation Skills?" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 9 (May 10, 2019): 1630. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091630.
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Physical education in schools has been marginalised across the globe, and as a result, children are missing out on opportunities to develop and acquire the foundation skills needed to lead a physically active life. The squeeze on physical education in schools, particularly in some western countries (United Kingdom, Australia and America), has been justified on the grounds that core subjects such as English and mathematics need more curriculum time, as this will lead to higher cognitive and academic performance. The aim of this paper is to highlight how physical education lessons in early childhood, underpinned by either of two major theories of motor learning, can support teachers in the creation of learning environments, as well as guide their pedagogical practice to facilitate children’s development of key cognitive skills, in particular executive function and self-regulation skills. These skills are crucial for learning and development and have been found to be a higher predictor of academic achievement than IQ. They also enable positive behaviour and allow us to make healthy choices for ourselves and others, therefore providing further evidence that the development of movement skills has the potential to secure positive attitudes and outcomes towards physical activity across the lifespan.
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Milne, Fritha H., and Debra S. Judge. "Brothers delay menarche and the onset of sexual activity in their sisters." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278, no. 1704 (August 18, 2010): 417–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1377.
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The higher costs of sons compared with daughters extends to a negative effect of brothers on the lifetime reproductive success of their siblings in subsistence and preindustrial societies. In societies with fewer resource constraints, one might expect that these effects would be limited or non-existent. This study investigates the costs of brothers and sisters in a contemporary western society of adult Australians. Girls with elder brothers had a delayed age at menarche. Younger brothers were associated with delayed onset of sexual activity in sisters, but not in brothers. Neither younger nor elder brothers influenced fitness parameters (number of pregnancies, number of children, age at first pregnancy or age at first birth) in siblings of either sex. This study provides evidence that brothers negatively affect their sisters' onset of reproductive maturity and sexual activity; however, this delay is not associated with a fitness cost in contemporary Australia. We suggest this is due to the long period of independence prior to child bearing.