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Research
Meeting the Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years is associated with better social-emotional development in preschool boys24-hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years promote that achieving all three-movement behaviour (sleep, sedentary behaviour and physical activity) recommendations is important for child health and development. We examined the association between meeting all, none and combinations of the Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years and social-emotional development in 1363 preschool (2-5 years) boys (52%) and girls.
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Traffic exposure, air pollution and children's physical activity at early childhood education and careA significant number of children attend Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). ECEC is an important environment and behaviour setting for young children. Time spent outdoors is positively associated with children's physical activity levels, yet increased time spent physically active outdoors may expose young children to traffic-related air pollution, particularly in ECEC centres located in high traffic areas.
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Evaluating the effectiveness of the Play Active policy intervention and implementation support in early childhood education and care: a pragmatic cluster randomised trial protocolDaily physical activity is critical during the early years of life for facilitating children's health and development. A large proportion of preschool children do not achieve the recommended 3 h of daily physical activity. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are a key setting to intervene to increase physical activity. There is a significant need for ECEC specific physical activity policy, including clearer guidelines on the amount of physical activity children should do during care, and strategies for implementation of these guidelines.
Research
Sexualized Images on Social Media and Adolescent Girls’ Mental Health: Qualitative Insights from Parents, School Support Service Staff and Youth Mental Health Service ProvidersThis research explored adults' perceptions of how sexualized images typically found on social media might influence adolescent girls' mental health, what support girls might need should they experience mental health difficulties, and how such difficulties could be prevented or reduced.
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Barriers and enablers to promoting grandchildren’s physical activity and reducing screen time: a qualitative study with Australian grandparentsWith an increasing number of grandparents providing care to their grandchildren, calls have been made for these caregivers to be considered important stakeholders in encouraging children's engagement in health-promoting behaviors, such as physical activity.
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PLAYCE PAWS: The health and developmental benefits of companion animals for young childrenHayley Liz Steve Christian Wenden Zubrick BSc (1st Class Hons), PhD W.Aust. BHlthSc MPH FASSA, FAAMHS, MSc AM PhD Program Head, Healthy Behaviours
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Supporting nutrition education in low socioeconomic schools in Western AustraliaSchool-based nutrition education (NE) has an important role in promoting healthy eating habits and helping prevent chronic diseases – particularly among disadvantaged children and youth who are more likely to experience poor diet quality.
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Associations between the built environment and emotional, social and physical indicators of early child development across high and low socioeconomic neighbourhoodsEmerging evidence indicates that the built environment influences early child development. Access to, and the quality of, built environment features vary with the socioeconomic status (SES) of neighbourhoods. It has not yet been established whether the association between built environment features and early child development varies by neighbourhood SES.
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Prevalence and pattern of energy drink intake among Australian adolescentsEnergy drinks (ED) are popular among young people despite evidence of associated health risks. Research into the prevalence and pattern of ED intake among young people is sparse. The present study investigates the prevalence and pattern of ED intake among a large sample of adolescents, including how many consume them, how often, for what reasons and in what contexts.
Research
The relationship between dog ownership, dog play, family dog walking, and pre-schooler social-emotional development: findings from the PLAYCE observational studyRegular physical activity provides children with health and developmental benefits. This study investigated if active play and walking with the family dog was associated with better social-emotional development in young children.