In this article, we want to focus on the impact of the new health imperatives on young children attending primary schools because the evidence from both our own and others work suggests that younger and younger children are talking in very negative and disturbing ways about themselves and their bodies. We see this in a context where in the name of…

In today's fast food, fast-paced consumer society, too few questions are asked about the influence of digital media on young children's health and sustainability choices, and indeed how such choices are expressed in children's play (and early childhood classrooms). By interviewing children and parents, and using such data to prompt teacher…

Alarm about the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity has focussed attention on individual lifestyle behaviours that may contribute to unhealthy weight. Television viewing is often a focus of the obesity debate. Not only is it sedentary, it also has the potential to influence other lifestyle behaviours either by displacing physical activities…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesized structural paths in Bandura's social-cognitive theory (SCT) model on adolescent girls' physical activity following a 12-month physical activity and dietary intervention to prevent obesity. Method: We conducted a 12-month follow-up study of 235 adolescent girls ("M[subscript…

Background: Parenting style has been associated with weight-related outcomes in children, but relationships between parenting, weight, and overweight-related psychological outcomes remain largely unstudied. The aim of the present study was to determine whether parenting was a moderator of the relationship between overweight and psychological…

School playgrounds offer everyday opportunities for physically active and social play that combats obesity, develops skills, and promotes well-being. However, teachers' fear of the legal consequences of injury can elicit over-zealous risk reduction with the result that playgrounds lack challenge, and the potential benefits of play become limited.…

In 2009, the Australian Government introduced the Get Up and Grow (Commonwealth Government, 2009) guidelines for healthy eating and exercise in early childhood as one element of a range of initiatives aiming to curb childhood obesity, a problem affecting an increasing proportion of Australia children. Included in the policy recommendations are…

Contemporary notions of childhood overweight and obesity have become increasingly influential in curriculum and pedagogy in school-based Health and Physical Education (HPE). Teachers' delivery of HPE subject matter and related school practices are likely to have a considerable impact on the attitudes and beliefs of the children they teach,…

The influence of parental and early childhood factors on adolescent obesity was investigated using a longitudinal model of body mass index (BMI) from birth to 14 years. Trajectories of BMI using linear mixed model (LMM) analysis were used to investigate the influence of early parental and childhood factors on BMI at 14 years in the Raine birth…

The purpose of this study was to establish sex-specific criterion-referenced standards for pedometer-determined physical activity related to body mass index (BMI)-defined weight status among youth. We analyzed data from 7-16-year-old boys (n = 338) and girls (n = 337) and used pedometer-assessed physical activity and anthropometric data to derive…

Objective: Examine associations between parental concern about adolescent weight and adolescent perceptions of their dietary intake, home food availability, family mealtime environment, and parents' feeding practices. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Adolescents, aged 12-15 years from 37 secondary schools in Victoria, Australia, and their…

To address increasing rates of overweight and obesity, a population-based telephone intervention was introduced in New South Wales, Australia. The Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service[R] (GHS) offered participants a 6-month coaching program or detailed self-help information. Determining the population reach of GHS is of public health…

In this paper we explore the tensions that exist between two health promotion discourses prevalent in school based Health Education. We use one example from a widely used curriculum resource and one classroom episode to explore discourses related to obesity prevention, often described as an obesity epidemic by media and health professionals alike.…

Our study assessed implicit and explicit evaluations of overweight individuals among a sample of fitness center employees (N = 70). Participants completed a general demographics questionnaire and an explicit, self-report Antifat Attitudes Test (AFAT). Participants also completed two Implicit Association Tests (IATs) to measure implicit attitudes…

This paper makes use of critical discourse analysis and Bourdieu's theoretical framework to explore rural young women's meanings of health and fitness and how the healthism discourse is perpetuated through their experiences in school physical education (PE). The young women's own meanings are explored alongside interview data from their school PE…