http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/services/Feed ${session.getAttribute("locale")} 5 http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12879 Background: Childhood obesity is one of the most pressing health issues of our time. Key health organizations have recommended research be conducted on the effectiveness of well-designed interventions to combat childhood obesity that can be translated into a variety of settings. This paper describes the design and methods used in the Hunter Illawarra Kids Challenge Using Parent Support (HIKCUPS) trial, an ongoing multi-site randomized controlled trial, in overweight/obese children comparing the efficacy of three interventions: 1) a parent-centered dietary modification program; 2) a child-centered physical activity skill- development program; and 3) a program combining both 1 and 2 above. Methods/Design: Each intervention consists of three components: i) 10-weekly face-to-face group sessions; ii) a weekly homework component, completed between each face-to-face session and iii) three telephone calls at monthly intervals following completion of the 10-week program. Details of the programs' methodological aspects of recruitment, randomization and statistical analyses are described here a priori. Discussion: Importantly this paper describes how HIKCUPS addresses some of the short falls in the current literature pertaining to the efficacy of child obesity interventions. 2013-05-14T06:21:17.599Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12865 Background: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is increasing at an alarming rate around the world and prevention has become a key public health objective. Treatment and management of those already overweight and obese must be aligned with the best available evidence on effectiveness, if the risk of obesity-related morbidity and mortality is yet be reduced. Diet plays a pivotal role in successful treatment of obesity but to date, there is limited evidence on which to base practice. Objectives: To identify and present the best available evidence on the optimal dietetic treatment and management of children and adolescent who are overweight or obese. Search strategy: Published English language literature was searched using the electronic databases CINAHL, MEDLINE, PRE-MEDLINE, DARE, COCHRANE, EMBASE, AUSTROM, Current Concepts and Dissertation Abstracts. The databases were limited to English Language from 1975 until 2003. Government reports from the UK, USA and Australian were also searched and a hand search performed for the Journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia, International Journal of Obesity and the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics and the bibliographies of retrieved articles. Selection criteria: (i) Interventions that evaluated the effectiveness of nutrition or dietary interventions to treat or manage overweight and obesity; (ii) Children aged less than 18 years; and (iii) Participants were defined as overweight or obese by relative weight or a measure of body weight status, studies that reported body weight per se were excluded. Data collection and analysis: An experienced professional librarian searched the databases, and two trained research assistants independently identified studies for retrieval and assessed each article for inclusion. The included studies were critically appraised for methodological quality by two people independently. Data were extracted from the appropriate articles and when a discrepancy arose, a third party would arbitrate. Main results: There were 116 articles that met the inclusion criteria. While 49 articles described randomised controlled trials, they arose from 37 separate studies. There were 67 non-randomised trials. Meta-analyses were performed on eight studies that included both a dietary intervention component and an adequate control group and on four studies that had follow-up data. There was a high degree of heterogeneity between studies and this made comparisons between studies problematic. Interventions that include diet therapy generally result in significant weight loss, at least in the short term. Many studies were poorly designed and had no or only minimal follow up. The details of the dietary intervention were often inadequately described and dietary outcomes rarely reported, making repetition of the studies difficult. Reviewers’ conclusions: There is an urgent need for high quality studies investigating the optimal dietary approach to management of paediatric overweight and obesity. These studies require adequate follow up to ascertain if weight loss can be sustained in the long term. Details of the dietary prescription, adherence to the dietary intervention and diet-specific outcomes need to be reported in order to inform best practice. 2013-05-09T06:14:50.885Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11511 The different ways in which the issue of childhood obesity can be addressed among disadvantaged families and how staff of human service organisations can support families are discussed. Efforts to improve the physical and mental health and social integration of disadvantaged families through supporting healthy lifestyles should be organisational priorities. 2012-09-13T06:08:28.313Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11191 The work of human service organisation staff to prevent obesity by assisting disadvantaged families to eat healthily and be active is discussed. The key findings of a study to describe managers' perceptions of the healthy eating and physical activity needs of vulnerable families are highlighted. 2012-08-08T00:26:25.399Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10281 Summary,and recommendations for research and practice: For healthy eating and physical activity to become the norm for children, the places where they live, learn and play need to foster these behaviors. Community capacity building for obesity prevention in children is the process of building the competencies, structures and resources in civil society required to create these environments. Training is an important component of community capacity building for obesity prevention, but it also involves raising community awareness of health risks, strategies to foster community cohesion, facilitating access to additional resources, developing structures to support community decision making and social and political support. The application of community capacity building models to obesity prevention is relatively new. However, the number of programs that incorporate its components into their designs is growing. At a national level, a network of creative and autonomous communities that provide local solutions to the global problem of obesity is more likely to achieve significant and sustainable behavior change than simply relying on central government. 2012-03-02T03:30:05.179Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:7399 Community-based interventions are an important component of obesity prevention efforts. The literature provides little guidance on priority-setting for obesity prevention in communities, especially for socially and culturally diverse populations. This paper reports on the process of developing prioritized, community-participatory action plans for obesity prevention projects in children and adolescents using the ANGELO (Analysis Grid for Elements Linked to Obesity) Framework. We combined stakeholder engagement processes, the ANGELO Framework (scans for environmental barriers, targeted behaviours, gaps in skills and knowledge) and workshops with key stakeholders to create action plans for six diverse obesity prevention projects in Australia (n = 3), New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga from 2002 to 2005. Some sites included sociocultural contextual analyses in the environmental scans. Target groups were under-5-year-olds (Australia), 4–12-year-olds (Australia) and 13–18-year-olds (all four countries). Over 120 potential behavioural, knowledge, skill and environmental elements were identified for prioritization leading into each 2-day workshop. Many elements were common across the diverse cultural communities; however, several unique sociocultural elements emerged in some cultural groups which informed their action plans. Youth were actively engaged in adolescent projects, allowing their needs to be incorporated into the action plans initiating the process of ownership. A common structure for the action plan promoted efficiencies in the process while allowing for community creativity and innovation. The ANGELO is a flexible and efficient way of achieving an agreed plan for obesity prevention with diverse communities. It is responsive to community needs, combines local and international knowledge and creates stakeholder ownership of the action plan. 2011-03-16T05:10:27.619Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:4364 Background: An increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity has been documented in preschool children in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam. However, little is known about what preschool children in HCMC eat or how well their nutrient intake meets nutrient recommendations. This study aims to describe the energy and macronutrient intake and compare these nutrient intakes with the recommendations for Vietnamese children aged four to five years. Methods: The data comes from the baseline measurement of a one year follow-up study on obesity in 670 children attending kindergartens in HCMC. Dietary information for each child at the school and home settings was collected using Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs), by interviewing teachers and parents or main caregivers. The average energy and nutrient intake in a day was calculated. The proportion of children with energy intake from macronutrients meeting or exceeding the recommendations was estimated based on the 2006 recommended daily allowance (RDA) for Vietnamese children in this age group. Results: The dietary intake of the participants contained more energy from protein and fat, particularly animal protein and fat, and less energy from carbohydrates, than the RDA. Most children (98.1%) had mean energy intake from protein greater than the recommended level of 15%, and no child obtained energy from animal fat that was in accordance with the recommendation of less than 30% of the total fat intake. Nearly one half of children (46.5%) consumed less than the advised range of mean energy intake from carbohydrate (60%–70%). Conclusion: In this preschool child population in HCMC, in which obesity is emerging as major public health problem, there is an imbalance in dietary intake. Healthy eating programs need to be developed as a part of an obesity prevention program for young children in HCMC. 2010-04-27T04:54:24.789Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:5061 In spite of greater awareness of the need for action to reduce obesity, the evidence on sustainable community approaches to prevent childhood and adolescent obesity is surprisingly sparse. This paper describes the design and methodological components of the Sentinel Site for Obesity Prevention, a demonstration site in the Barwon-South West region of Victoria, Australia, that aims to build the programs, skills and evidence necessary to attenuate and eventually reverse the obesity epidemic in children and adolescents. The Sentinel Site for Obesity Prevention is based on a partnership between the region’s university (Deakin University) and its health, education and local government agencies. The three basic foundations of the Sentinel building community capacity; and undertaking program evaluations and population monitoring. Three intervention projects have been supported that cover different age groups (preschool: 2–5 years, primary school: 5–12 years, secondary school: 13–17 years), but that have many characteristics in common including: community participation and ownership of the project; an intervention duration of at least 3 years; and full evaluations with impact (behaviours) and outcome measures (anthropometry) compared with regionally representative comparison populations. We recommend the Sentinel Site approach to others for successfully building evidence for childhood obesity prevention and stimulating action on reducing the epidemic. 2010-04-27T04:35:20.335Z ]]>