Combining GPS, GIS, and accelerometry to explore the physical activity and environment relationship in children and young people – a review

The environment has long been associated with physical activity engagement, and recent developments in technology have resulted in the ability to objectively quantify activity behaviours and activity context. This paper reviews studies that have combined Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and accelerometry to investigate the PA-environment relationship in children and young people (5–18 years old). Literature searches of the following bibliographic databases were undertaken: Sportdiscus, Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Psychinfo and Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA). Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria, and covered topics including greenspace use, general land use, active travel, and the built environment. Studies were largely cross-sectional and took place across developed countries (UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia). Findings suggest that roads and streets, school grounds, and the home location are important locations for total PA, and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA). The relationship between greenspace was positive, however, multiple definitions and outcome measures add complexity to the results. MVPA was more likely in those exposed to higher levels of greenspace compared to sedentary individuals. Total MVPA time in greenspace is low, but when framed as a proportion of the total can be quite high. Domestic gardens may be an important area for higher intensity activity.<p></p> Researchers are encouraged to show transparency in their methods. As a relatively new area of research, with ever-evolving technology, future work is best placed in developing novel, but robust, methods to investigate the PA and environment relationship. Further descriptive work is encouraged to build on a small but increasing knowledge base; however, longitudinal studies incorporating seasonal/weather variation would also be extremely beneficial to elicit some of the nuances associated with land use. A greater understanding of geographic variation (i.e. within and between countries), as well as urban/suburban and rural dwelling is welcomed, and future work should also include the investigation of psycho-social health as an outcome, as well as differences in socio-economic status, sex and adiposity

Are parenting practices associated with the same child outcomes in Sub-Saharan African countries as in high income countries? A review and synthesis

Introduction: There is increasing interest in the transferability of parenting interventions from high-income countries (HICs) to low-income countries (LICs) in order to improve child development and health outcomes. This is based on the premise that associations between parenting practices and child outcomes are similar in both settings. Many parenting interventions in HICs are evidence-based, but less evidence exists on associations of parenting practices with child outcomes in LICs, in particular, sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. This review synthesises evidence on the association of parenting practices with child outcomes in SSA in order to compare findings with those from HICs. Methods: We searched electronic databases—Web of Science, ASSIA, Embase, IBSS and PsycINFO—to identify studies from SSA that reported quantitative associations between parenting practices and child health or psychosocial outcomes (eg, sexual and reproductive health (SRH), mental health, conduct disorders). Due to inconsistent conceptual framing of parenting across studies, we used a modified version of the international WHO classification of parenting dimensions to guide synthesis of the results. Results: Forty-four studies met our inclusion criteria. They were conducted in 13 SSA countries and included cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, and were predominantly descriptive studies rather than intervention research. Synthesis of results showed that associations between patterns of parenting (‘positive’/‘harsh’) and child outcomes (including SRH, mental health and conduct disorders) in studies from SSA were broadly similar to those found in HICs. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the impacts of parenting practices on child outcomes are similar across contrasting global regions and, therefore, parenting interventions from HICs might be successfully transferred to SSA, subject to appropriate adaptation. However, this review also highlights the paucity of evidence in this area and the urgent need for higher quality studies to confirm these findings to help develop effective parenting interventions in SSA

Lone parents, health, wellbeing and welfare to work:a systematic review of qualitative studies

Abstract Background Lone parents and their children experience higher than average levels of adverse health and social outcomes, much of which are explained by high rates of poverty. Many high income countries have attempted to address high poverty rates by introducing employment requirements for lone parents in receipt of welfare benefits. However, there is evidence that employment may not reduce poverty or improve the health of lone parents and their children. Methods We conducted a systematic review of qualitative studies reporting lone parents’ accounts of participation in welfare to work (WtW), to identify explanations and possible mechanisms for the impacts of WtW on health and wellbeing. Twenty one bibliographic databases were searched. Two reviewers independently screened references and assessed study quality. Studies from any high income country that met the criteria of focussing on lone parents, mandatory WtW interventions, and health or wellbeing were included. Thematic synthesis was used to investigate analytic themes between studies. Results Screening of the 4703 identified papers and quality assessment resulted in the inclusion of 16 qualitative studies of WtW in five high income countries, USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, covering a variety of welfare regimes. Our synthesis found that WtW requirements often conflicted with child care responsibilities. Available employment was often poorly paid and precarious. Adverse health impacts, such as increased stress, fatigue, and depression were commonly reported, though employment and appropriate training was linked to increased self-worth for some. WtW appeared to influence health through the pathways of conflict and control, analytical themes which emerged during synthesis. WtW reduced control over the nature of employment and care of children. Access to social support allowed some lone parents to manage the conflict associated with employment, and to increase control over their circumstances, with potentially beneficial health impacts. Conclusion WtW can result in increased conflict and reduced control, which may lead to negative impacts on mental health. Availability of social support may mediate the negative health impacts of WtW

Prehabilitation exercise therapy before abdominal aortic aneurysm repair

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of exercise programmes on perioperative and postoperative morbidity and mortality associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm repair

Lack of evidence on mental health and well-being impacts of individual-level interventions for vulnerable adolescents:systematic mapping review

Objectives: To review empirical evaluations of individual-level interventions intended to improve mental health or wellbeing for vulnerable adolescents. Study design: Systematic mapping review. Methods: Thirteen databases covering academic and grey literature were searched for published reviews and randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and grey literature (2005-2016) and the results quality-assessed to prioritize best available evidence. We aimed to identify well conducted systematic reviews and trials that evaluated individual-level interventions, for mental health/wellbeing outcomes, where the population was adolescents aged 10-24 years in any of 12 vulnerable groups at high risk of poor health outcomes (e.g. homeless, offenders, 'looked after', carers). Results: Thirty systematic reviews and 16 additional trials were identified. There was insufficient evidence to identify promising individual-level interventions that improve the mental health/wellbeing of any of the vulnerable groups. Conclusions: Despite Western policy to promote health and wellbeing among vulnerable young people, the dearth of evidence suggests a lack of interest in evaluating interventions targeting these groups in respect of their mental health/wellbeing outcomes

Taxation of unprocessed sugar or sugar-added foods for reducing their consumption and preventing obesity or other adverse health outcomes:protocol

To assess the effects of taxation of unprocessed sugar or sugar-added foods in the general population on the: consumption of unprocessed sugar or sugar-added foods; prevalence and incidence of overweight and obesity; and prevalence and incidence of diet-related health conditions

Taxation of the fat content of foods for reducing their consumption and preventing obesity or other adverse health outcomes

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of taxation of fat content in food on consumption of total fat and saturated fat, energy intake, overweight, obesity, and other adverse health outcomes in the general population

The impact of Participatory Budgeting on health and wellbeing:A scoping review of evaluations

Background: Participatory budgeting (PB), citizens deliberating among themselves and with officials to decide how to allocate funds for public goods, has been increasingly implemented across Europe and worldwide. While PB is recommended as good practice by the World Bank and the United Nations, with potential to improve health and wellbeing, it is unclear what evaluations have been conducted on the impact of PB on health and wellbeing. Methods: For this scoping review, we searched 21 databases with no restrictions on publication date or language. The search term ‘participatory budget’ was used as the relevant global label for the intervention of interest. Studies were included if they reported original analysis of health, social, political, or economic and budgetary outcomes of PB. We examined the study design, analysis, outcomes and location of included articles. Findings are reported narratively. Results: From 1458 identified references, 37 studies were included. The majority of evaluations (n = 24) were of PB in South America, seven were in Europe. Most evaluations were case studies (n = 23) conducting ethnography and surveys, focussing on political outcomes such as participation in PB or impacts on political activities. All of the quantitative observational studies analysing population level data, except one in Russia, were conducted in South America. Conclusion: Despite increasing interest in PB, evaluations applying robust methods to analyse health and wellbeing outcomes are scarce, particularly beyond Brazil. Therefore, implementation of PB schemes should be accompanied by rigorous qualitative and quantitative evaluation to identify impacts and the processes by which they are realised

Health and Wellbeing of Lone Parents in Welfare to Work: a Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

Background: Lone parents have worse health than couple parents, which is largely explained by higher levels of poverty. Many high income countries have attempted to address poverty by introducing mandatory requirements to actively seek employment or participate in training for welfare recipients, including lone parents. However, employment might not reduce poverty or improve the health of lone parents. To assess experiences of welfare to work and gain insight into possible mechanisms linking interventions with health and wellbeing, this study systematically reviewed qualitative data from studies of lone parents’ experiences of mandatory welfare to work. Methods: 21 bibliographic databases were searched (appendix) for articles published between July 16, 2009, and July 6, 2013, with no language restrictions; search-term sets were used for the topics, lone parent and welfare to work. Studies that met the criteria of focusing on lone parents, mandatory welfare to work interventions, and health or wellbeing were imported into NVivo (version 10) for coding. Two reviewers independently screened references, assessed study quality for clarity and appropriateness of methods, and developed the coding framework. Thematic synthesis, a method to facilitate transparency when identifying analytical themes between studies, was used to guide line-by-line coding of the data. Findings: From 4703 papers identified, 16 studies (724 participants) from five high income countries were included. Although the balance of evidence was on negative findings—ie, linking welfare to work to negative health effects, such as stress, fatigue, and depression—there were some positive reports of improved self-worth. Available employment was often precarious and poorly paid. The demands of parenting were frequently in direct conflict with employment and welfare to work obligations, and affected parents’ control over major life decisions and everyday routines. Therefore, the concepts of conflict and control seemed to encapsulate how welfare to work affected health. Social support allowed some parents to manage these conflicts, allowing greater control over their circumstances, and for some mediating the adverse health effects of welfare to work. Interpretation: Participation in mandatory welfare to work can result in increased conflict and reduced control for lone parents, leading to negative effects on mental health. The potential benefits of welfare to work are dependent on access to adequate social support and suitable employment opportunities; however these are often unavailable to lone parents in welfare to work