This occasional paper is the ninth in a series on the National Quality Framework (NQF). The Education and Care Services National Law and National Regulations govern the minimum standards and requirements that all providers of NQF regulated services must meet, including health and safety requirements. Quality Area 2 of the National Quality Standard…

Childhood is an important time for healthy development and learning, and for establishing the foundation blocks of future wellbeing, but it is also a time of vulnerability. While a positive start in life helps children to reach their full potential, a poor start increases the chances of adverse outcomes for the individual, society and possibly…

The risk factors associated with absenteeism are well known. However, children's exposure to combinations of risks and how these relate to absence patterns remains unclear. Understanding variations in risk profiles among persistently non-attending children will inform the development of absence interventions. Using a longitudinal sample of…

Childhood is an important time for healthy development, learning, and establishing the foundations for future wellbeing. Most Australian children are healthy, safe and doing well. However, childhood is also a time of vulnerability and a child's outcomes can vary depending on where they live and their family's circumstances. This brief brings…

Children's health and wellbeing are crucial to a prosperous Australia and are at the centre of health-related policy-making. Schools are considered as ideal sites to promote health and wellbeing and thus some of the responsibility of children's health and wellbeing has been assumed by schools beyond the obligations of the health and Physical…

This paper reports on mixed methods research that was part of a larger investigation into the impact of an inclusive, physical activity intervention programme on a broad range of variables including children's enjoyment of, and participation in physical activity, self-perceptions, physical self-efficacy and how this influenced their overall…

Physical activity may benefit mental health, yet the potentially protective role of elementary school physical education (PE) on childhood mental health is unknown. The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of a specialist-taught PE program on indicators of childhood mental health. In this cluster-randomized controlled trial,…

International concern about "alarming" levels of childhood obesity has seen a proliferation of interventions filtering into school physical education programmes that are designed to influence children's health practices and attitudes. This article addresses one such obesity-prevention intervention, the Global Children's Challenge™, a…

BAckground: Reversing decline in physical fitness and increase in excess body weight in school children are considered major public health challenges. We evaluated a proposed model to integrate a screening and healthy exercise, eating, and lifestyle program (HEELP) into primary schools in Canberra, Australia. Objectives were: (1) to establish body…

This occasional paper is the seventh in a series on the National Quality Framework (NQF). It explores the quality of children's education and care services based on the socio-economic status of the area in which they are situated. The Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD) is…

Australian youth (5-17) are exhibiting the most alarming statistics surrounding poor physical activity (PA) levels and increasing correlating chronic disease trends (i.e. obesity). With schools well positioned to address such concerns, this study aimed to determine the type, frequency and intensity levels of PA being undertaken by children during…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of classroom-based physical activity interventions that integrate academic content and assess the effectiveness of the interventions on physical activity, learning, facilitators of learning, and health outcomes. Method: Six electronic databases (ERIC, PubMed, Google Scholar,…

This study investigated the facilitation of daily physical activity for primary school students by regular classroom teachers. The existing practices of teachers and their perceptions of barriers to facilitating daily physical activity with their students were explored. Initial investigations revealed the need to build the capacity of classroom…

Given the short-and long-term health implications associated with overweight and obesity plus the likelihood of overweight or obesity to continue into adulthood, addressing the causes of overweight and obesity in childhood is a significant public health concern. One underlying cause of overweight and obesity is insufficient physical activity. The…

While grappling with their traditional core business of imbuing students with official curricular knowledge, schools have simultaneously, increasing demands to take on health promotion responsibilities. This paper examines the mandated implementation of the Eat Well Be Active (EWBA) Action Plan and its subsidiary "Smart" policies in…