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…

Approximately one in four Australian children aged 5-17 years are overweight or obese. Most of the health effects of overweight and obesity in childhood do not eventuate until into adulthood; therefore, motivation for children to have a healthy diet may be low. This scoping review examined the literature for associations between diet quality in…

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…

Preschool children's interest in popular culture is linked to many determinants of obesity development including branded energy-dense foods and sedentary play using digital technologies. In addition, highly packaged foods and throwaway toys reinforce unsustainable environmental habits encouraged by immersive marketing systems. Interrupting the…

Background: We examined the body mass index (BMI) of students attending Seventh-day Adventist (Adventist) schools in Australia in 2001 and 2012. Methods: A total of 3069 students attending Adventist schools in Australia responded to a health and lifestyle survey in 2001 (N = 1335) and 2012 (N = 1734). The survey captured self-reported height and…

The primary aim of the present study was to cross-sectionally examine the associations between maternal psychosocial variables, child feeding practices, and preschooler body mass index z-score (BMI-z) in children (aged 2-4 years). A secondary aim was to examine differences in child weight outcomes between mothers scoring above and below specified…

This paper directs attention towards the plethora of ongoing health and well-being initiatives that seek to address young people's participation in physical activity and that are underpinned by interests in youth health. Focusing on contemporary developments in the state of Tasmania and throughout Australia, the paper examines these initiatives by…

Despite significant investment in many countries, the extent of schools' adoption of obesity prevention policies and practices has not been widely reported. The aims of this article are to describe Australian schools' adoption of healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices over an 8-year period and to determine if their adoption…

Early childhood educators currently provide content focused learning opportunities for children in the areas of well-being and environmental education. However, these are usually seen as discrete content areas and educators are challenged with responding to children's interests in popular-culture inspired food products given these influence their…

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…

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…

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…