Paternal influences on children\u27s weight gain : a systematic review

Childhood overweight and obesity rates have continued to rise globally, reaching epidemic proportions. Children\u27s dietary patterns evolve within the context of the family and there are a number of pathways through which parents may shape children\u27s dietary practices, including parent nutritional knowledge the types of foods that are made available to children, parental modeling of particular eating behaviors, and parent child-feeding practices. Most research examining these predictors has been undertaken with mothers as the primary caregivers, while fathers have received markedly less attention. This paper is a review of the literature on paternal influences on preschool children\u27s weight gain, overweight and obesity. The results of this review indicate that fathers do influence preschool children\u27s weight gain, overweight and obesity status. However, methodological limitations in the existing studies make direct and meaningful comparisons across studies difficult. The review further highlights the fact that fathers have been neglected in childhood obesity research.<br /

Parent–child interactions and obesity prevention : a systematic review of the literature

Child obesity research has generally not examined multiple layers of parent&ndash;child relationships during weight-related activities such as feeding, eating and play. A literature review was conducted to locate empirical studies that measured parent&ndash; child interactions and child eating and child weight variables; five papers met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The findings of the review revealed that parent&ndash;child relationships are an important element in explaining the unhealthy trend of childhood obesity. We argue that prevention/intervention strategies must extend on the current models of parenting by targeting the family from a bi-directional perspective, and focusing, specifically, on the mutually responsive orientation that exists in the parent&ndash;child relationship.<br /

Physical activity in young children : a systematic review of parental influences

The primary aim of this review was to identify and evaluate the strength of associations of the key parental factors measured in studies examining early childhood physical activity (PA). A systematic review of the literature, using databases PsychINFO, Medline, Academic Search Complete, PSYCHinfo, and CINHAL, published between January 1986 and March 2011 was conducted; 20 papers were relevant for the current review. While 12 parenting variables were identified, only 5 of these had been investigated sufficiently to provide conclusive findings. There were inconsistencies in the findings involving the social learning variable parental enjoyment and variables involving parental behaviours such as maternal depression and self-efficacy, and rules for sedentary behaviour, and parental perceptions, which included perceived importance of PA, fear of safety, and perception of child&rsquo;s motor competence. Given these inconsistencies, a metaanalysis was conducted to determine whether the method of measuring PA (objective or subjective) influenced the strength of associations between the parental factors and young children&rsquo;s PA. There was no difference in the strength of associations in the studies that used objective or subjective measurement (via parent self-report). Further investigation is needed to clarify and understand the specific parental influences and behaviours that are associated with PA in young children. In particular, longitudinal research is needed to better understand how parental influences and PA levels of children during the formative preschool and early elementary school years are associated.<br /

Defining dual diagnosis : a qualitative study of the views of health care workers

Background: \u27Dual diagnosis\u27 is the term of choice in many countries to describe clients with co-occurring mental health and alcohol and other drug (AOD) issues. However, it is not known if its meaning is consistently represented within and across health care services. This uncertainty has significant implications for referral, consultation and research.Aim: To obtain information about the way that different health care professionals understand the term \u27dual diagnosis\u27.Method: Twenty-nine health care workers across five service types (medical, mental health, AOD, dual diagnosis and community health) in Victoria, Australia were interviewed about their understanding of the term \u27dual diagnosis\u27.Results: The findings indicated that service providers working in AOD and Mental Health had a shared general understanding of what was meant by \u27dual diagnosis\u27, despite uncertainties about more specific inclusion criteria. In contrast, medical and community health staff lacked a similar shared understanding, and were more likely to recommend change, but offered no consensus on alternatives.Conclusion: The results indicate that while the term \u27dual diagnosis\u27 has value in efficiently directing attention to the complexity of treatment issues, health practitioners cannot assume it will convey the intended meaning outside mental health or AOD services. Clear articulation of the intended definition may be a necessary requirement in wider health care communication. <br /

Promoting fit bodies, healthy eating and physical activity among Indigenous Australian men: a study protocol

Background: Overall the physical health of Indigenous men is among the worst in Australia. Research has indicated that modifiable lifestyle factors, such as poor nutrition and physical inactivity, appear to contribute strongly to these poor health conditions. To effectively develop and implement strategies to improve the health of Australia&rsquo;s Indigenous peoples, a greater understanding is needed of how Indigenous men perceive health, and how they view and care for their bodies. Further, a more systematic understanding of how sociocultural factors affect their health attitudes and behaviours is needed. This article presents the study protocol of a communitybased investigation into the factors surrounding the health and body image of Indigenous Australian men.Methods and design: The study will be conducted in a collaborative manner with Indigenous Australian men using a participatory action research framework. Men will be recruited from three locations around Australia (metropolitan, regional, and rural) and interviewed to understand their experiences and perspectives on a number of issues related to health and health behaviour. The information that is collected will be analysed using modified grounded theory and thematic analysis. The results will then be used to develop and implement community events in each location to provide feedback on the findings to the community, promote health enhancing strategies, and determine future action and collaboration.Discussion: This study will explore both risk and protective factors that affect the health of Indigenous Australian men. This knowledge will be disseminated to the wider Indigenous community and can be used to inform future health promotion strategies. The expected outcome of this study is therefore an increased understanding of health and health change in Indigenous Australian men, the development of strategies that promote healthy eating and positive patterns of physical activity and, in the longer term, more effective and culturally-appropriate interventions to improve health.<br /

Successful ageing : perceptions of adults aged between 70 and 101 years

In this research, content analysis was employed to investigate older adults\u27 perceptions of successful aging and the relationship of these perceptions to definitions given in the literature to date. Participants were 18 males and 42 females between the ages of 70 and 101 years. Analyses revealed older adults mentioned only 1 or 2 criteria of successful aging if asked for a definition; however, when prompted, they rated almost all the criteria emerging from the literature as highly important. Participants reported adjusting to the situations they were in by compensating for losses that occurred and selecting activities that best suited their capabilities. Overall, older adults\u27 perceptions of successful aging were similar to aspects identified in the literature. Not all aspects, however, were seen as important by all participants, and only low to moderate correlations were found between some aspects of successful aging. (Contains 3 figures and 4 tables.)<br /

Internalization as a mediator of the relationship between conformity to masculine norms and body image attitudes and behaviors among young men in Sweden, US, UK, and Australia

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. We examined whether internalization of sociocultural body ideals mediated the relationship between conformity to masculine norms and drive for muscularity, leanness, and thinness in a sample of males from Sweden, US, UK, and Australia. Over six hundred young men [n= 142 (Sweden); n= 192 (US); n= 141 (UK); n= 160 (Australia)] completed an online survey that included assessments of masculine role norms, body image, and internalization of sociocultural body ideals. Path analyses confirmed internalization as a mediator between greater conformity to masculine norms and body image measures (drive for thinness, desire for leanness, and desire for muscularity) across the sample. However, significant cross-country differences in the strength of these mediation effects were found. Mediation effects among US, Australian, and Swedish males were comparable, whereas these effects were weaker in the UK sample. Findings confirmed the importance of internalization of sociocultural body ideals in the tested models

Media internalization and conformity to traditional masculine norms in relation to body image concerns among men

Previous studies have separately examined conformity to masculine norms and internalization of body ideals in the media in relation to the drive for muscularity (DM). This study was designed to examine these factors together in relation to DM, and further examine how they may differ in relation to drive for thinness (DT) and drive for leanness (DL). Participants were 284 Australian males between ages 18 to 42. They completed validated measures that assessed DM, DT, DL, male gender role norms, and internalization of body ideals. The findings showed that internalization of body ideals mediated the relationship between masculine role norms and body image in the case of both DM and DL. However, masculine norms and internalization were independent predictors of DT. Our findings contribute to further understanding of the roles that the media and masculine norms have in shaping men’s drive for muscularity, leanness, and thinness. Longitudinal research is needed to confirm the nature and direction of these relationships