Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Identifying Dietary Patterns In Irish Schoolchildren And Their Association With Nutritional Knowledge And Markers Of Health Before And After Intervention, Alison Merrotsy, Aoife L. Mccarthy, Seán Lacey, Tara Coppinger

Publications

The aim of the study was to identify dietary patterns (DP) and examine differences in anthropometric measures, blood pressure (BP), cardiorespiratory fitness and nutritional knowledge of 6- and 10-year-old children at baseline and following a nutrition and physical activity intervention, with respect to DP and treatment group. This is a longitudinal study. Food diary, nutritional knowledge questionnaire and 550-m walk/run test measured dietary intake, nutritional knowledge and cardiorespiratory fitness, respectively. BP, weight, height and waist circumference were also measured and BMI and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were derived. All measurements were performed at baseline and following intervention. Two primary schools (one …

Teachers’ Perceptions And Understanding Of Children’S Fluid Intake, Kristy Howells, Tara Coppinger

Publications

No public health data exists on elementary teachers’ perceptions of both their own fluid intake and of their elementary school aged children’s fluid intake. A total of 271 (20 males, 251 females) teachers in developed areas of Australia, Belgium, England, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America completed an online questionnaire (Feb–Mar 2019) on: (i) their fluid intake, (ii) their perception and understanding of children’s fluid intake and (iii) barriers in the school day that they felt prevented school children consuming fluids. Overall, the data indicated that teachers consume considerably lower amounts than recommended themselves, but have …

The Nutritional Value Of Children's Menus In Chain Restaurants In The United Kingdom And Ireland, Michelle Young, Tara Coppinger, Sue Reeves

Publications

Objective: Obesity in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland is rising, as is the frequency of eating out in restaurants. The aim of this study was to investigate the nutritional quality of children's menus in restaurants. Design: Cross-sectional review of menus aimed at children from 20 popular chain restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Main Outcome Measures: Total energy, fat, saturated fat, and salt were collected from every food item on the menu in each restaurant. All potential meal combinations were created. A total of 39,266 meals were analysed. Analysis: Meals were compared with UK nutritional guidelines. …

Malnutrition In The Elderly, Clodagh Corcoran, Craig Murphy, Eamonn P. Culligan, Janette Walton, Roy D. Sleator

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Changes that occur naturally throughout the ageing process place the elderly population at greater risk of malnourishment. This review discusses the significance, causes, consequences and assessment of malnutrition in the elderly.

Rising Rural Body-Mass Index Is The Main Driver Of The Global Obesity Epidemic In Adults, Con Burns, Tara Coppinger, Janette Walton, Et Al

Publications

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities1,2. This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity3,4,5,6. Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to …

Project Spraoi: The Effectiveness Of A Nutrition And Physical Activity Intervention On The Dietry Intake, Dietary Patterns, Nutritional Knowledge And Markers Of Health Of Irish Primary School Children, Alison Merrotsy

PhDs

Aim: To implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a nutrition and physical activity (PA) intervention (Project Spraoi) on dietary intake (DI), dietary patterns (DP), nutritional knowledge (NK), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), blood pressure (BP) and markers of health of Irish children in one primary school in Cork. The relationship between DP and NK, CRF, BP and anthropometric data will also be examined.

Design: Cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Food diary, NK questionnaire and 550m walk/run test were used to assess DI, DP, NK and CRF, respectively. BP, body mass index (BMI) and waist to height ratio (WHtR) were also calculated.

Setting: Two …

Worldwide Trends In Body-Mass Index, Underweight, Overweight, And Obesity From 1975 To 2016: A Pooled Analysis Of 2416 Population-Based Measurement Studies In 128·9 Million Children, Adolescents, And Adults, James Bentham, Mariachiara Di Cesare, Ver Bilano, Honor Bixby, Bin Zhou, Gretchen A. Stevens, Leanne M. Riley, Cristina Taddei, Kaveh Hajifathalian, Yuan Lu, Con Burns, Tara Coppinger, Janette Walton, Stefan Savin, Melanie J. Cowan, Christopher J. Paciorek, Adela Chirita-Emandi, Alison J. Hayes, Joanne Katz, Roya Kelishadi, Andre Pascal Kengne, Young Ho Khang, Avula Laxmaiah, Yanping Li, Jun Ma, J. Jaime Miranda, Aya Mostafa, Martin Neovius, Cristina Padez, Lekhraj Rampal, Aubrianna Zhu, James E. Bennett, Goodarz Danaei, Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, Majid Ezzati

Publications

Background Underweight, overweight, and obesity in childhood and adolescence are associated with adverse health consequences throughout the life-course. Our aim was to estimate worldwide trends in mean body-mass index (BMI) and a comprehensive set of BMI categories that cover underweight to obesity in children and adolescents, and to compare trends with those of adults. Methods We pooled 2416 population-based studies with measurements of height and weight on 128·9 million participants aged 5 years and older, including 31·5 million aged 5–19 years. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1975 to 2016 in 200 countries for mean BMI …

‘Project Spraoi’: A Randomized Control Trial To Improve Nutrition And Physical Activity In School Children, Tara Coppinger, Seán Lacey, Cian O'Neill, Con Burns

Publications

Background

Recent evidence predicts that by 2030, Ireland will have the highest rate of obesity in Europe. Consequently, there are concerns that health problems associated with this condition will present in childhood. Studies have shown that interventions based on increasing physical activity (PA) levels, reducing sedentary lifestyles and improving nutritional habits all pose protective mechanisms against obesity and its related disorders in youth. Yet, to date, there are no interventions being delivered in Ireland that concurrently target PA, nutritional habits and sedentary time amongst school children.

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to implement and evaluate an intervention that …

Project Energize: Intervention Development And 10 Years Of Progress In Preventing Childhood Obesity Public Health, Elaine Rush, Carolyn Cairncross, Margaret Hinepo Williams, Marilyn Tseng, Tara Coppinger, Steph Mclennan, Kasha Latimer

Publications

Prevention of childhood obesity is a global priority. The school setting offers access to large numbers of children and the ability to provide supportive environments for quality physical activity and nutrition. This article describes Project Energize, a through-school physical activity and nutrition programme that celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2015 so that it might serve as a model for similar practices, initiatives and policies elsewhere. The programme was envisaged and financed by the Waikato District Health Board of New Zealand in 2004 and delivered by Sport Waikato to 124 primary schools as a randomised controlled trial from 2005 to 2006. …

Project Spraoi: A Strategy To Improve Nutrition And Increase Physical Activity In Primary School Children, Lisa Delaney

Masters

Introduction: Paediatric obesity has become a global epidemic with many countries developing strategies to help tackle its prevalence. School based physical activity (PA) and nutrition interventions have proven to play a promising role in tackling childhood obesity.

Background: Project Spraoi is an Irish primary school based intervention. The intervention was delivered to an intervention school to help enhance PA and nutritional behaviour amongst pupils. The intervention school was assigned an ‘Energizer’; a trained PA and nutrition change agent who worked with the school to achieve the objectives. For evaluation purposes a control school was recruited.

Methodology: Pupils from the intervention …

Beverage Consumption And Bmi Of British Schoolchildren Aged 9-13 Years, Tara Coppinger, Y. M. Jeanes, M. Mitchell, S. Reeves

Publications

Objective Adequate fluid intake has been well documented as important for health but whether it has adverse effects on overall energy and sugar intakes remains under debate. Many dietary studies continue to refrain from reporting on beverage consumption, which the present study aimed to address. Design A cross-sectional survey investigated self-reported measures of dietary intake and anthropometric measurements. Setting Primary and secondary schools in south-west London, UK. Subjects Boys and girls (n 248) aged 9-13 years. Results Boys consumed 10 % and girls consumed 9 % of their daily energy intake from beverages and most children had total sugar intakes …

Body Mass, Frequency Of Eating And Breakfast Consumption In 9-13 Year Olds, Tara Coppinger, Y. M. Jeanes, J. Hardwick, S. Reeves

Pre-prints

Background: Unhealthy eating patterns in childhood can lead to adverse health conditions, particularly obesity. However, debate remains around the precise eating behaviours that lead to these conditions. The present study aimed to address this lack of evidence by reporting on the eating frequency, breakfast consumption and body mass index (BMI, kg m–2) of youth in the UK.

Methods: A total of 264 (133 boys and 131 girls) participants, aged 10–13 years, completed self-report measures of dietary intake via 3-day food/drink diaries (Friday to Sunday). Trained researchers recorded height and weight to calculate the BMI. Diaries were analysed using …

Probiotic Therapy - Recruiting Old Friends To Fight New Foes, Roy D. Sleator

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Against a backdrop of increasing antibiotic resistance, and the emergence of new and evolving pathogens, clinicians are increasingly forced to consider alternative therapies - probiotics are one such alternative.