Objective: To describe lifestyle behaviors (fruit and vegetable intake, alcohol intake, physical activity, sitting time, smoking, drug use, sleep, sexual health) and health risk factors (body mass index, food insecurity, mental health) in a sample of Australian university students. Participants: 3,077 students from the University of Newcastle…

A collaborative study abroad program (between one New Zealand and one U.S. university) on the theme of global health has been offered three times in Australia with 59 students registered to date. The course was developed because it is believed that higher education can play a role in improving global health through the fostering of global…

Research among former Physical Education (PE) school students has demonstrated how fat phobia in PE classes is oppressive and makes it extremely difficult for most students to develop positive subjectivities. This study explores how a group of pre-service Health and Physical Education (HPE) specialist teachers from an Australian university…

This paper proposes social living labs for informed learning as an innovative approach to interprofessional and community education. It presents a new conceptual model and practice framework suited to rapidly changing, information-intensive work and social environments. The proposed approach is theoretically informed and evidence based. It…

Given that postsecondary institutions are increasingly seen as sites to promote health, critical scholars are calling attention to how the contemporary Western weight-centred health paradigm reinforces a "size matters" message that is fueling harmful attitudes towards and judgments of bodies. As such, research that highlights strategies…

The obesity crisis is a hegemonic discourse that has established common-sense understandings that young people are less active and fit than previous generations. Unquestioning acceptance of links between fitness and obesity in turn leads to unproblematic fitness testing of young people. Argument is made that fitness tests motivate and encourage…

The aim was to investigate and compare body image, body dissatisfaction, dieting, disordered eating, exercise and eating disorders among trainee health education/physical education (H&PE) and non-H&PE teachers. Participants were 502 trainee teachers randomly selected from class groups at three Australian universities who completed the…

Dr Fritz Duras was the first director of a department of physical education in an Australian university. He had a significant influence on the development of the field of physical education in Australia and his legacy is honoured at each biennial ACHPER conference with the Fritz Duras memorial lecture. Recently, the Graduate School of Education at…