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Promoting healthy eating and physical activity in early childhood education and care is recommended within guidelines and supported by health promotion programs; however, implementation is suboptimal. Evidence suggests implementation within the sector varies over time; however, this has not been empirically examined in relation to implementation barriers.
Children's physical activity and screen time behaviours impact their physical health and well-being. In Australia, less than half of children meet daily physical activity recommendations and only one-third meet daily screen time recommendations.
We know relatively little about the role the neighbourhood built environment plays in promoting young children's physical activity, particularly its longitudinal effect either through repeated exposure to the same environment or through change in exposure by moving from one neighbourhood to another.
Physical constraints of small apartment kitchens and the influence of the surrounding community food environment may impact food practices of apartment residents. Social media portrayal of these features may influence public perception of apartment living.
Advertising and marketing by the alcohol industry serve to normalise alcohol use, with exposure to alcohol advertising linked to earlier and riskier drinking among young people. Advertising that portrays alcohol use in and around waterways is of particular concern, with one in five fatal drownings being associated with alcohol.
Developing dietary guidelines for lactating women presents significant challenges, due to limited evidence being available on their specific nutrient needs and the biological impacts of various dietary dimensions. Current dietary recommendations often rely on data from nonlactating women, leading to potential inaccuracies.
Physical activity is crucial for young children's health and development. Many young children do not meet the recommended 3 hours of daily physical activity, including 60 min of energetic play. Early childhood education and care (ECEC/childcare) is a key setting to intervene to improve children's physical activity. The Play Active programme is a scalable evidence-informed ECEC-specific physical activity policy intervention with implementation support strategies to improve educators' physical activity-related practices.
To examine the role of pet play and dog walking in children's and adolescents' leisure time, and the relationship between these activities and physical activity
Hayley Karen Christian Lombardi BSc (1st Class Hons), PhD (Distinction) W.Aust. BHSc (Hons), PhD Head, Child Physical Activity, Health and
The BEACHES project aims to provide high quality evidence of aspects of the built environment which can be modified to reduce the negative impact on children’s physical activity, eating behaviours and weight status.