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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.
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.
Food environments are significant drivers of obesity and diet-related diseases, making them key targets for interventions that support healthier food choices. The role of Local Government Authorities is pivotal in shaping community food environments.
There is an urgent need for scalable interventions to promote physical activity in early childhood. An early childhood education and care physical activity policy intervention with implementation support strategies (Play Active) has been proposed for scale-up in Australia.
In this narrative review, we provide an overview of the role of physical activity as part of differing exposomes (our combined non-genetic exposures from conception onwards) and environmental influences on metabolic health. We discuss 'beneficial' exposomes (green/natural outdoor spaces, sun exposure, healthy diets and features of built environments) that could synergise with physical activity to prevent metabolic dysfunction, particularly that related to lifestyle diseases of obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
A large proportion of preschoolers do not meet the recommended three hours of daily physical activity. A potential source of daily physical activity could be that provided via the family dog. This qualitative study aimed to explore the barriers and motivators to preschoolers playing with their dog and participating in family dog walks.
Skin cancer prevention efforts in Australia have increasingly incorporated a focus on protection during incidental sun exposure. This complements the long-present messages promoting protection in high-risk settings and avoidance of acute intense bouts of sun exposure.
Emerging evidence supports the physical health and social benefits of dog ownership. This study examined the longitudinal effect of dog ownership and dog walking on mental health.
Social emotional development is imperative to young children's long-term psychological and physical health. Physical activity (PA) may be important for young children's social emotional development. The association between preschooler PA duration and intensity and social emotional development was investigated.
Early childhood is a critical window for preventing obesity and chronic disease. Yet, 1 in 4 Australian children aged 5 years and under are affected by overweight or obesity; and significant proportions of children under 5 years fail to meet guidelines for diet quality, physical activity (PA), screen time, and sleep.