Digital Commons Network^™

Food For Naught: Using The Theory Of Planned Behaviour To Better Understand Household Food Wasting Behaviour, Paul Van Der Werf, Jamie A. Seabrook, Jason A. Gilliland

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

To better understand food wasting behaviour, the theory of planned behaviour was used to inform the development of a survey which was administered to households in London, Ontario, Canada. Respondent households (n ¼ 1,263) threw out avoidable food waste 4.77 times/week (SD ¼ 4.81, Mdn ¼ 4.0) and 5.89 food portions/week (SD ¼ 5.66, Mdn ¼ 4.0). When asked to choose one of three possible motivators to reduce food wasting behaviour, 58.9% selected reducing monetary loss as their first choice and this was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than both reducing environmental impact (23.9%) and reducing social impacts (17.2%). A linear hierarchical regression analysis (R2¼ 0.30, p < 0.001) on intention to avoid food waste demonstrated that perceived behavioural control (p < 0.001) and personal norms (p < 0.001) had the greatest positive impact on intention. A linear hierarchical regression analysis (R2¼ 0.32, p < 0.001) on self-reported food wasting behaviour showed that perceived behavioural control (p < 0.001) and personal attitudes (p < 0.01) resulted in less food wasting behaviour, while more children in a household (p < 0.01) resulted in more food wasting behaviour. Interventions that seek to strengthen perceived behavioural control and convey the monetary impact of food waste could help reduce its disposal.

"Reduce Food Waste, Save Money”: Testing A Novel Intervention To Reduce Household Food Waste, Paul Van Der Werf, Jamie A. Seabrook, Jason A. Gilliland

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

An intervention, which used elements of the theory of planned behavior, was developed and tested in a randomized control trial (RCT) involving households in the city of London, Ontario, Canada. A bespoke methodology involving the direct collection and measurement of food waste within curbside garbage samples of control (n = 58) and treatment households (n = 54) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. A comparison of garbage samples before and after the intervention revealed that total food waste in treatment households decreased by 31% after the intervention and the decrease was significantly greater (p …

Geographic Accessibility To Primary Care Providers: Comparing Rural And Urban Areas In Southwestern Ontario, Tayyab I. Shah, Andrew F. Clark, Jamie A. Seabrook, Shannon Sibbald, Jason A. Galliland

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

This research examines geographical accessibility to primary care providers (PCPs) across urban and rural areas of Southwestern Ontario and examines variations in the distribution of PCPs in relation to the senior population (aged 65 years and older). Information about PCP practices was provided by the HealthForceOntario Marketing and Recruitment Agency. Population data were obtained from the 2016 Census of Canada. To calculate scores for accessibility to PCPs (i.e., PCPs/10,000 population), we applied the enhanced 2‐step floating catchment area method with distance decay effect within a global service catchment of 30‐minute drive time. A geospatial mapping approach revealed disparities in the …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Restaurant Consumer Food Environment In Rochester (Ny, Usa) And London (On, Canada): Assessing Children’S Menus By Neighbourhood Socio-Economic Characteristics, Catherine Dubreck, Richard C. Sadler, Godwin Arku, Jamie A. Seabrook, Jason A. Gilliland

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

Objective:To assess restaurant children’s menus for content and nutritional quality; and to investigate the relationship between the restaurant consumer food environment for children and neighbourhood-level socio-economic characteristics within and between one Canadian city and one US city. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Setting: London, ON, Canada and Rochester, NY, USA. Participants: Restaurant children’s menus were assessed, scored and compared using the Children’s Menu Assessment tool. We quantified neighbourhood accessibility to restaurants by calculating 800 m road-network buffers around the centroid of each city census block and created a new Neighbourhood Restaurant Quality Index for Children (NRQI-C) comprising the sum of …

Assessing The Relationship Between Water And Nutrition Knowledge And Beverage Consumption Habits In Children, Bridget R. Irwin, Mark R. Speechley, Jason A. Gilliland

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

Objective: To examine the relationship between knowledge and beverage consumption habits among children.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis. Linear regression was used to identify sociodemographic, dietary and behavioural determinants of beverage consumption and knowledge, and to describe the relationships between children’s knowledge and water and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption.

Settings: Seventeen elementary schools in London, Ontario, Canada.

Participants: A total of 1049 children aged 8–14 years.

Results: Knowledge scores were low overall. Children with higher knowledge scores consumed significantly fewer SSB (β = −0·33; 95 % CI −0·49, −0·18; P < 0·0001) and significantly more water (β = 0·34; 95 % CI 0·16, 0·52; P = 0·0002). More frequent refillable water bottle use, lower junk food consumption, lower fruit and vegetable consumption, female sex, higher parental education, two-parent households and not participating in a milk programme were associated with a higher water consumption. Male sex, higher junk food consumption, single-parent households, lower parental education, participating in a milk programme, less frequent refillable water bottle use and permission to leave school grounds at lunchtime were associated with a higher SSB consumption. Water was the most frequently consumed beverage; however, 79 % of respondents reported consuming an SSB at least once daily and 50 % reported consuming an SSB three or more times daily.

Conclusions: Elementary-school children have relatively low nutrition and water knowledge and consume …

Children’S Perspectives On Neighbourhood Barriers And Enablers To Active School Travel: A Participatory Mapping Study, Katherine Wilson, Stephannie Coen, Angela Piaskoski, Jason A. Gilliland

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

Children today are spending more sedentary time indoors than time playing and being active outdoors. The daily journey to and from school represents a valuable opportunity for children to be physically active through active school travel. The majority of research on children's active school travel omits children from the research process even though children interpret their environments in fundamentally different ways than adults. Our research uses innovative participatory mapping and qualitative GIS methods to examine how children's perceptions of their environments influence their school journey experiences. Through our thematic analysis of 25 map‐based focus groups, we identified three main themes …

Examining The Social And Built Environment Factors Influencing Children’S Independent Use Of Their Neighborhoods And The Experience Of Local Settings As Child-Friendly, Janet Loebach, Jason A. Gilliland

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

Neighborhoods have traditionally served as important settings for children’s independent activities, but use has declined dramatically. Global positioning system (GPS) monitors, activity diaries, annotated maps, and Google Earth–enabled interviews captured the neighborhood perceptions, usage, and independent activity ranges of twenty-three children (nine to twelve years) from London, Canada. While few participants used neighborhood settings on a habitual basis, local parks and homes of nearby friends were important independent destinations. Usage was strongly influenced by positive and negative social conditions, but local environments did not generally cater well to the shifting interests of resident children. Embedding child-friendly affordances through neighborhood planning …

A Geospatial Approach To Understanding Inequalities In Accessibility To Primary Care Among Vulnerable Populations, Jason A. Gilliland, Tayyab Shah, Andrew F. Clark, Shannon L. Sibbald, Jamie A. Seabrook

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

Many Canadians experience unequal access to primary care services, despite living in a country with a universal health care system. Health inequalities affect all Canadians but have a much stronger impact on the health of vulnerable populations. Health inequalities are preventable differences in the health status or distribution of health resources as experienced by vulnerable populations. A geospatial approach was applied to examine how closely the distribution of primary care providers (PCPs) in London, Ontario meet the needs of vulnerable populations, including people with low income status, seniors, lone parents, and linguistic minorities. Using enhanced two step floating catchment area …

If You Make It Free, Will They Come? Using A Physical Activity Accessibility Model To Understand The Use Of A Free Children’S Recreation Pass, Andrew F. Clark, Johanna Campbell, Patricia Tucker, Piotr Wilk, Jason A. Gilliland

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

Background: Children’s sedentary lifestyles and low physical activity levels may be countered using population-level interventions. This study examines factors influencing the use of a free community-wide physical activity access pass for grade 5 students (G5AP).

Methods: A natural experiment with longitudinal data collection. A sample of 881 children completed the 9-month follow-up survey self-reporting where they used the G5AP. Two analyses were conducted: Getis-Ord GI* geographic cluster analysis of the spatial distribution of users, and logistic regression examining the relationship between use and accessibility (informational, economic, and geographic) and mobility options, while accounting for intrapersonal and interpersonal factors.

Results: Overall, …

Study Protocol Of A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial Incorporated Into The Group Lifestyle Balance™ Program: The Nutrigenomics, Overweight/Obesity And Weight Management Trial (The Now Trial), Justine Horne, Jason A. Gilliland, Colleen O’Connor,, Jamie A. Seabrook, Peter Hannaberg, Janet Madill

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

Background

The nutrigenomics, overweight/obesity and weight management trial (NOW Trial) is a pragmatic randomized controlled trial of community-dwelling adults recruited from the Group Lifestyle Balance™ (GLB™) Program. The GLB™ Program (formerly referred to as the Diabetes Prevention Program) is an evidence-based, intensive weight management program, which was offered to overweight/obese patients (BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2) in a rural Ontario community.

Methods

Patients enrolled in the GLB™ Program were invited to participate in this study. GLB™ groups were randomized 1:1 to receive either the standard GLB™ program + population-based lifestyle advice for weight management, or a modified GLB™ program + personalized, …

Conceptualizing Youth Participation In Children’S Health Research: Insights From A Youth-Driven Process For Developing A Youth Advisory Council, Krishna Arunkumar, Drew Bowman, Stephanie Coen, Mohammad El-Bagdady, Christina R. Ergler, Jason A. Gilliland, Ahad Mahmood, Suraj Paul

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

Given the power asymmetries between adults and young people, youth involvement in research is often at risk of tokenism. While many disciplines have seen a shift from conducting research on youth to conducting research with and for youth, engaging children and teens in research remains fraught with conceptual, methodological, and practical challenges. Arnstein’s foundational Ladder of Participation has been adapted in novel ways in youth research, but in this paper, we present a new rendering: a ‘rope ladder.’ This concept came out of our youth-driven planning process to develop a Youth Advisory Council for the Human Environments Analysis Laboratory, an …

The Impact Of Canadian School Food Programs On Children’S Nutrition And Health: A Systematic Review, Paige Colley, Bronia Myer, Jamie A. Seabrook, Jason A. Gilliland

Human Environments Analysis Lab (HEAL)

The quality of children’s diets has declined over the past few decades, giving rise to a variety of health-related consequences. In response to this trend, school food programs have become an increasingly effective method to support nutrition and lifelong healthy eating habits. This systematic review synthesizes current academic literature pertaining to school nutrition programs in Canada to identify existing interventions and their impacts on children’s nutritional knowledge, dietary behaviour, and food intake. The review was conducted through a search of the following databases: ERIC, Education Source, CINAHL, PubMed, SagePub, SCOPUS, EMBASE, and CBCA. Information extracted from the articles included the …