Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Monitoring Policy And Actions On Food Environments: Rationale And Outline Of The Informas Policy Engagement And Communication Strategies, H Brinsden, T Lobstein, J Landon, V Kraak, G Sacks, S Kumanyika, Boyd A. Swinburn, S Barquera, Sharon Friel, C Hawkes, Bridget Kelly, M L'Abbe, A Lee, J Ma, J Macmullen, S Mohan, C Monteiro, Bruce Neal, M Rayner, D Sanders, W Snowdon, S Vandevijvere, C Walker

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The International Network for Food and Obesity/non-communicable diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) proposes to collect performance indicators on food policies, actions and environments related to obesity and non-communicable diseases. This paper reviews existing communications strategies used for performance indicators and proposes the approach to be taken for INFORMAS. Twenty-seven scoring and rating tools were identified in various fields of public health including alcohol, tobacco, physical activity, infant feeding and food environments. These were compared based on the types of indicators used and how they were quantified, scoring methods, presentation and the communication and reporting strategies used. There are …

Advergames Play With Nutrition By Making Fast Food Rewarding, Sandra C. Jones, Jeffrey A. Thom

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Advergaming is a relatively recent approach to advertising that overcomes many of the limitations of traditional advertising. But advergames are increasingly being used by fast food companies to target children by rewarding play with unhealthy food products.

Forget Children, Self-Regulating Ads Only Helps The Food Industry, Sandra C. Jones

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The food industry’s commitment to actually reducing inappropriate food marketing to children is called into question by a paper published today in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. Couple this with research published last week showing drinking soft drinks makes children aggressive, and you won’t be alone in thinking it’s time to do something about how junk food and kids mix.

Building Solutions To Protect Children From Unhealthy Food And Drink Sport Sponsorship, Bridget Kelly, Kathy Chapman, Louise A. Baur, Adrian E. Bauman, Lesley King, Ben J. Smith

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In Australia, and indeed across the world, the proportion of children who are overweight or obese is increasing. Almost one-quarter of school-aged children are now overweight or obese. While the causes of obesity are complex and many, children's exposure to high levels of unhealthy food marketing is one factor that affects the food and drinks that children like, ask for, buy and consume. Extensive research evidence has found that, in general, children are exposed to high levels of food marketing, most of which is for unhealthy or high fat, sugar and/or salt food and drinks. The most commonly advertised foods …

Food And Nutrition Absent From Draft National Curriculum, Heather Yeatman

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Selecting the right mix of foods and preparing them safely doesn’t come naturally to humans – we need to be taught. But lessons about food and nutrition are glaringly absent from the new draft national health and physical education curriculum.

What I Say Isn't Always What I Do: Investigating Differences In Children's Reported And Actual Snack Food Preferences, Sandra C. Jones, Lisa Kervin, Samantha Reis, Parri Gregory

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The current study sought to explore discrepancies between children's stated snack food motivations and actual food choices, using the Implicit Association Test (IAT) as a measure of implicit attitudes towards 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' foods. Participants were children aged 6-12 years (n=118), from two primary schools on the South Coast of NSW, Australia - a public school in a semi-rural suburb south of a sea-side city and a public school in a largely residential northern suburb of the same city. The children completed a questionnaire about motivations for snack choices, participated in an activity, completed two further questionnaires, selected snack foods …

The Case For And Against The Regulation Of Food Marketing Directed Towards Children, Bridget Kelly, Rohan Miller, Lesley King

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Authoritative and comprehensive reviews of studies on the nature and extent of food marketing to children indicate that children are exposed to high levels of food marketing and that the 'marketed diet' typically comprises energy-dense, micronutirent-poor foods. However, the implication of causality between marketing, product exposures and childhood obesity is not universally accepted. A vigorous discussion rages about appropriate policy responses to children's exposure to food marketing. The advocacy by many health and consumer groups for tighter government restrictions on food marketing is juxtaposed to the views held by many in the food and advertising industries. Pivotal in this debate …

Fast Food Loses Tick But Can The Heart Foundation Regain Its Credibility?, Sandra C. Jones

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The Heart Foundation today announced plans to dump its tick from takeaway foods, citing unfair advantage for companies such as McDonalds over small takeaway outlets that can’t afford the accreditation fees. The tick will still be available to supermarket food manufacturers. So what does the tick actually mean? And does it improve consumer decisions? Professor Sandra Jones, the Director of the Centre for Health Initiatives at the University of Wollongong, explains: The Heart Foundation tick is perceived by consumers to mean a product is healthy. But it’s more complicated than that. The tick means a product is healthier than other …

Inappropriate Food Marketing, Lesley King, Bridget Kelly, Timothy Gill, Josephine Chau, Kathy Chapman

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The Preventative Taskforce has identified inappropriate food marketing to children as a national policy priority, and is seeking to provide an informed policy approach to guide government action in this area. This project has formulated a set of policy options and recommendations regarding inappropriate food marketing in Australia. The policy options and recommendations have been developed on the basis of an analysis of international evidence, including Australian and international research studies and case studies of policy initiatives. The policy options and recommendations address the potential roles and responsibilities of national government, and take account of the roles of industry groups, …

Consuming Children: An Analysis Of Australian Press Coverage Of The Claims And Counterclaims Of Advocacy And Industry Groups In Relation To A Proposed Ban On 'Junk Food' Advertising, Kate Holland, R Warwick Blood, Samantha Thomas, Asuntha Karunaratne, Sophie Lewis

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Evidence of rising rates of overweight and obesity in Australia has generated considerable discussion about potential policy responses and solutions. In relation to childhood obesity, one suggestion that has been put forward is to ban or restrict junk food advertising to children. Debate about the merits of such a proposal was an enduring issue in the Australian press during our study's time frame, January 2008-January 2009. This paper is one part of a larger project investigating the reporting and portrayal of overweight and obesity in the Australian media, and the lived experiences of overweight and obese adults. In Australia, O'Hara …

Initial Severity And Antidepressant Benefits: A Meta-Analysis Of Data Submitted To The Food And Drug Administration, Irving Kirsch, Brett J. Deacon, Tania B. Huedo-Medina, Alan Scoboria, Thomas J. Moore, Blair T. Johnson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Meta-analyses of antidepressant medications have reported only modest benefits over placebo treatment, and when unpublished trial data are included, the benefit falls below accepted criteria for clinical significance. Yet, the efficacy of the antidepressants may also depend on the severity of initial depression scores. The purpose of this analysis is to establish the relation of baseline severity and antidepressant efficacy using a relevant dataset of published and unpublished clinical trials. Methods and Findings: We obtained data on all clinical trials submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the licensing of the four new-generation antidepressants for which …

Do Children's Food Preferences Align With Dietary Recommendations?, C G. Russell, Anthony Worsley

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objectives To examine how Australian children's reported everyday food preferences reflect dietary recommendations, and the impact of sociodemographic factors on these associations.

Design Cross-sectional survey.

Setting/subjects Three hundred and seventy-one parents of children aged 2–5 years, recruited from three socio-economic groups in two Australian cities, completed a survey on their child's liking for 176 foods and drinks on a 5-point Likert scale in addition to demographic descriptors. Preferences were compared with the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia and the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.

Results Foods in the Extra Foods (non-nutritious foods) and …

Talking About Food And Nutrition: Australian Women's Magazines, Danielle Mcvie, Heather Yeatman, Sandra C. Jones

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the Cultivating Appetites for Knowledge International Food Conference, May 30 - Jun 3 2007, Victoria, Canada

Issues In Assessing The Validity Of Nutrient Data Obtained From A Food-Frequency Questionnaire: Folate And Vitamin B12 Examples, Victoria Flood, Wayne T. Smith, Karen L. Webb, Paul Mitchell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To compare methods used to assess the validity of nutrient intake data obtained from a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ), using folate and vitamin B₁₂ as nutrient examples.

Design: Cross-sectional sample from a population cohort.

Setting: Two postcode areas west of Sydney, Australia.

Subjects: In total, 2895 people aged 49 years and older provided dietary data using a semi-quantitative FFQ (79% of 3654 subjects examined). The validity of the FFQ was assessed against three 4-day weighed food records (WFRs) completed by 78 people (mean age 70 years).

Results: Folate and vitamin B₁₂ validity data were assessed using different methods. …

The Relationship Between Education And Food Consumption In The 1995 Australian National Nutrition Survey, Anthony Worsley, Roswitha Blasche, Kylie Ball, David Crawford

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To assess the relationship between education and the intake of a variety of individual foods, as well as groups of foods, for Australian men and women in different age groups.

Design: Cross-sectional national survey of free-living men and women.

Subjects: A sample of 2501 men and 2739 women aged 18 years and over who completed the National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 1995.

Methods: Information about the frequency of consumption of 88 food items was obtained using a food-frequency questionnaire in a nation-wide nutrition survey. Irregular and regular consumers of foods were identified according to whether they consumed individual foods less …

Nourish And Nurture: World Food Programme Assistance For Early Childhood Education In India's Integrated Child Development Service, Iram Siraj-Blatchford

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Part of UNESCO's Action Research in Family and Early Childhood series, this monograph is based upon a technical report on the Early Childhood Education (ECE) component of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program in India. This document overviews the ICDS and how better use could be made of World Food Programme (WFP) food aid along with the ECE component, including the aspect of providing education to mothers and adolescent girls. The report notes that the WFP has provided support to ICDS since March 1976; the other main donor supporting ICDS is the American organization, CARE. Also noted is India's …