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Physical activity is crucial for young children's health and development. Many young children do not meet the recommended 3 hours of daily physical activity, including 60 min of energetic play. Early childhood education and care (ECEC/childcare) is a key setting to intervene to improve children's physical activity. The Play Active programme is a scalable evidence-informed ECEC-specific physical activity policy intervention with implementation support strategies to improve educators' physical activity-related practices.
This study investigated adherence to Indonesia's Dietary Guidelines (IDG) among lactating women, examining related factors and association with nutrient intake adequacy, maternal and infant biomarkers, body mass index, and growth. Participants were lactating women (n = 220) from urban and rural West Java, Indonesia. Dietary intake (via 3-day weighed food records), anthropometry and blood samples were assessed. Adherence was evaluated using a scoring system tailored for IDG and adapted from the Healthy Eating Index to assess intake of food groups, sugar, salt, fat, water, coffee, and breakfast habits.
Physical constraints of small apartment kitchens and the influence of the surrounding community food environment may impact food practices of apartment residents. Social media portrayal of these features may influence public perception of apartment living.
Advertising and marketing by the alcohol industry serve to normalise alcohol use, with exposure to alcohol advertising linked to earlier and riskier drinking among young people. Advertising that portrays alcohol use in and around waterways is of particular concern, with one in five fatal drownings being associated with alcohol.
Food environments are significant drivers of obesity and diet-related diseases, making them key targets for interventions that support healthier food choices. The role of Local Government Authorities is pivotal in shaping community food environments.
There is an urgent need for scalable interventions to promote physical activity in early childhood. An early childhood education and care physical activity policy intervention with implementation support strategies (Play Active) has been proposed for scale-up in Australia.
Developing dietary guidelines for lactating women presents significant challenges, due to limited evidence being available on their specific nutrient needs and the biological impacts of various dietary dimensions. Current dietary recommendations often rely on data from nonlactating women, leading to potential inaccuracies.
Children's physical activity and screen time behaviours impact their physical health and well-being. In Australia, less than half of children meet daily physical activity recommendations and only one-third meet daily screen time recommendations.
Physically locating liquor stores near schools can strongly influence the chances of youth accessing and consuming alcohol, and may also increase children's exposure to alcohol advertising. Investigating the association between the presence of a liquor store near a school and the prevalence of outdoor alcohol advertising is crucial from a policy perspective, as it can inform future regulations on the placement of liquor stores and outdoor advertising near educational institutions.
Many children do not accumulate sufficient physical activity for good health and development at early childhood education and care (ECEC). This study examined the association between ECEC organizational readiness and implementation fidelity of an ECEC-specific physical activity policy intervention.