Managing obesity through mobile phone applications: a state-of-the-art review from a user-centred design perspective

Evidence has shown that the trend of increasing obesity rates has continued in the last decade. Mobile phone applications, benefiting from their ubiquity, have been increasingly used to address this issue. In order to increase the applications’ acceptance and success, a design and development process that focuses on users, such as User-Centred Design, is necessary. This paper reviews reported studies that concern the design and development of mobile phone applications to prevent obesity, and analyses them from a User-Centred Design perspective. Based on the review results, strengths and weaknesses of the existing studies were identified. Identified strengths included: evidence of the inclusion of multidisciplinary skills and perspectives; user involvement in studies; and the adoption of iterative design practices. Weaknesses included the lack of specificity in the selection of end-users and inconsistent evaluation protocols. The review was concluded by outlining issues and research areas that need to be addressed in the future, including: greater understanding of the effectiveness of sharing data between peers; privacy; and guidelines for designing for behavioural change through mobile phone applications

Identifying the role of the school in preventing adolescent obesity

Kakale Buru investigated the role of the school in the prevention of adolescent obesity. She explored obesity interventions in high schools and used the views of school stakeholders to develop a multi-pronged model for the prevention of adolescent obesity. The model is available to inform health promotion in schools

A Proposal for Activating the Saudi Women\u27s Participation in Sports Activities and Events

The present research aims to identify the reality of the Saudi woman’s participation in sports activities and events as well as the relevant obstacles, suggest the mechanisms that activate woman’s participation in sports and present a proposal that activates this participation. To achieve the research objectives, the author adopted the descriptive analytical method and a questionnaire was adopted as a tool. The results showed that woman’s participation in sports activities and events was poor. Moreover, the percentage of the reality was low rated (55.6%). Furthermore, the percentage of the obstacles was high rated (75.7%). All suggestions were of high agreement. The research recommends renewing, developing and diversifying sports activities to keep pace with the continuous changes and developments, promoting the quality of the goals and content of sports activities and developing them according to the desires and needs of the different age groups (i.e. children, teenagers and the elderly)

Investing In America's Health 2015

In 2015, BCBS companies continued investing in America's health throughhundreds of community-based grants, sponsorships, educational programsand health initiatives. BCBS employees themselves reinforced this collectivecommitment with nearly 400,000 volunteer hours and $10 million in personaldonations. Our local investments last year targeted a wide rangeof health-related needs important to individual communities, including severaltopics that are top-of-mind in all communities. Among them were combatingchildhood obesity and diabetes, meeting growing demand for behavioraland mental health services, tackling the devastating opioid abuse epidemic,strengthening school-based health education and filling gaps in care throughsafety-net clinics.The following pages provide just a sampling of the many ways BCBS companiesare addressing these and other critical issues through hands-on efforts toincrease access to care, improve healthcare quality and affordability and enablehealthier living. That's what the Power of Blue is all about -- advancing theoverall health and well-being of every community in America

Combating Childhood Obesity Through Nurse Practitioner-Led School Wellness Program

Overweight children and childhood obesity have been identified as an area of national and global concern. The prevalence of childhood obesity has been described as one of the most common chronic childhood conditions (Faguy, 2016). During the past decade, childhood obesity has been on the rise throughout the nation with an estimated childhood rate of 42 million to 70 million by 2025 (World Health Organization [WHO], 2014). The purpose of this prospective, quantitative study was to develop and implement a family nurse practitioner-led wellness intervention program in the school setting that incorporated nutrition and physical activity for adolescents. The review of literature revealed a lack of evidence regarding effectiveness of FNP-led wellness initiative in the school setting. Specific aims were to evaluate the pre- and post-intervention activity level and self-efficacy for diet and exercise of adolescents ages 14 to 17 during a 4-week FNP led school-based initiatives. Activity level was assessed through the use of Jawbone UP Move and Patient-Centered Assessment & Counseling for Exercise (PACE+) surveys. Participants experienced a significant improvement in their perspectives related to limiting the consumption of dietary when comparing baseline data to 4 weeks. Participants showed an increase in physical activity through the Jawbone UP Move from baseline to the end of the program. Participants demonstrated a reduction in diastolic blood pressure from baseline to completion of study. This translational childhood obesity school based project will contribute to the body of knowledge regarding FNPs and their role in reducing the prevalence and incidence of childhood obesity

Making waves in education

Making Waves in Education is a book of a collaborative nature, being a collection of chapters written by undergraduates studying B.A. Hons in Education at the Universities of Plymouth and York. Thirteen chapters, each from a different student, cover topics from learning theories to sex education, home education and autism. The chapters are well-organised and written, and they cover key topics in an accessible and thoughtful way. The chapters are generally well - referenced and present critical and balanced arguments. Many use hard statistics in an effective way to back up their points and all include bibliographies as indeed one expects from a serious publication. The collection therefore addresses itself to a wide readership of anyone interested in education, and students and teachers/trainers in HE in particula

Health at all costs? How health-first paternalism is promoted by government to corrode choice

This report argues that government-funded health lobbying is leading to increased regulation of any behaviour deemed detrimental to health. Executive summary: Public health policy has broadened from traditionally indiscriminate and/or communicable risks to the health of the population toward discriminate and/or non-communicable risks to the health of the population. The broadened definition has created a ‘health-first paternalist’ approach to public policy that prioritises health above traditional public policy considerations, including the rights of individuals and human rights, when they are in conflict with health priorities. Under this model, state sponsored universal healthcare and the subsequent costs to public finances have justified government regulation of any behaviour detrimental to health. Approaching public policy from a ‘health-first paternalist’ perspective leads to freedom and human rights being expensive and dispensable when they are in conflict. Even when ‘health-first paternalist’ policy options fail, they are still advocated for because the potential for health benefits outweigh any perceived costs. Since 2008 the Commonwealth has funded at least $100 million of research that can be used to justify ‘health-first paternalist’ policies, though this paper doesn’t assess the research’s merit. Government increasingly funds research and advocacy from the ‘non-government’ sector to advocate for ‘health-first paternalist’ policies, including through grant funding criteria. Both the government and ‘health-first paternalist’ advocacy groups see the role of government funding to as helping build the public case and evidence-base for the introduction of ‘healthfirst paternalist’ policies. The targets of ‘health-first paternalist’ policies are designed to reduce consumption of alcohol, gaming, tobacco products and unhealthy foods. ‘Health-first paternalist’ policies designed to target tobacco are now being replicated on gaming, unhealthy food and alcohol with questionable evidence of their merit or efficacy. ‘Health-first paternalist’ policies justified with research is based on: Questionable ‘social costs’ studies of individual behaviour that concludes there are significant public and private costs to people’s freedom. Risk inflation research that shows that behaviours lead to increased risks of cancer, or that they have equivalent addiction rates to illicit substances (This paper does not seek to dispute whether they are accurate, only identify the intention to highlight these risks). Some research is showing poorly designed ‘health-first paternalist’ policies are driving consumers to consider or engage in substitution, such as higher volumes of cheaper products and illicit drugs. As outlined in Figure 1, ‘health-first paternalist’ policies are self-reinforcing: if a policy is effective it should be followed up with a stronger policy because it is effective, if it fails it should be followed up with a stronger policy so that it is effective. Public funding for ‘health-first paternalist’ research is its own self-reinforcing cycle with advocates arguing for policy action by government off the back of government-funded research that was introduced as part of government policy action