Obesity prevention interventions in early childhood education and care settings with parental involvement: a systematic review

Partnering early childhood education and care (ECEC) and the home together may be more effective in combating obesogenic risk factors in preschool children. Thus, an evaluation of ECEC obesity prevention interventions with a parental component was conducted, exploring parental engagement and its effect on obesity and healthy lifestyle outcomes. A search revealed 15 peer-reviewed papers. Some studies demonstrated positive weight changes, and secondary outcomes of changes in physical activity and healthy eating were reported in most studies; study quality ranged from fair to good. Four findings were linked to weight changes: (1) when educational material is consistent across settings; (2) capacity building of parents; (3) parents encouraging their children to drink water and (4) parental satisfaction and participation. A partnership between parents and ECEC may be a powerful force in the prevention of paediatric obesity. A better understanding of collaborative parental engagement is needed

Reformation principles : the religious and political ideas of Benjamin Hoadly (1676-1761)

Benjamin Hoadly (1676-1761), successively Bishop of Bangor (1716), Hereford (1721), Salisbury (1723) and Winchester (1734), was a Latitudinarian divine and one of the foremost Whig propagandists of his generation. Contemporary Nonjuring, High Church and Tory opponents maintained that he was an ambitious, unprincipled opportunist who employed the secular reason of Deists and atheists to foster anarchy in the Church and rebellion in the state. So far, historians have only discussed Hoadly in a number of articles, parts of theses or in a few pages in long histories of the period. Moreover, the work which has been carried out has tended to focus on his political or his religious ideas and has in general reinforced the view presented by contemporary opponents. The purpose of this present study is to give the first comprehensive understanding of Hoadly's religious and political views. Hoadly was a polemicist rather than an abstract philosopher, and a study of six debates during the period 1700-1737 has displayed the dynamics of his thought, as well as casting light on the temper of the age. The findings challenge the traditional interpretation of Hoadly and reveal that the Bishop was not an unprincipled opportunist, but a committed Protestant and a staunch Whig. The work has also found that his intellectual debt to the Christian religion and the early Protestant reformers has been ignored or underestimated. This thesis argues that in religious and political debates, Hoadly continually appealed to what he considered to be the principles and practices of early Christianity and the Reformation. Furthermore, it contends that the Bishop did not aim to destroy but to reform, by challenging superstition and opposing persecution in Church and state, as well as championing individual religious and political liberties

Call for research – the consuming child-in-context in unhealthy and unsustainable times

Childhood obesity is a highly complex issue with serious health and environmental implications. It has been postulated that young children (preschool-aged in particular) are able to internalise positive environmental beliefs. Applying a socioecological theoretical perspective, in this discussion paper we argue that although children may internalise such beliefs, they commonly behave in ways that contradict these beliefs as demonstrated by their consumer choices. The media directly influences these consumer choices and growing evidence suggests that media exposure (particularly commercial television viewing) may be a significant “player” in the prediction of childhood obesity. However, there is still debate as to whether childhood obesity is caused by digital media use per se or whether other factors mediate this relationship. Growing evidence suggests that researchers should examine whether different types of content have conflicting influences on a child’s consumer choices and, by extension, obesity. The extent to which young children connect their consumer choices and the sustainability of the product/s they consume with their overall health and wellbeing has not previously been researched. To these ends, we call for further research on this socioecological phenomenon among young children, particularly with respect to the influence of digital media use on a child’s consumer behaviours

Parity and housing effects on the behavioural and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response of pregnant ewes

It is common in many countries for sheep to be housed during winter from mid-gestation until lambing to protect ewes and lambs from adverse conditions andimprove late gestation nutritional management. Keeping ewes indoors, however, has its own challenges as the animals may be mixed with unfamiliar conspecifics, have limited floor and feeding space, experience changes to their diet and increased handling by humans. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of variation in housing management (space allowance and social stability) on the behaviour and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses of pregnant ewes from mid to late gestation (weeks 11 to 18 of pregnancy). Seventy-seven ewes (41 primiparous, 36 multiparous) were divided into two groups: ‘Control’ and ‘Restricted space and mixed’ (RS-Mix), where RS-Mix ewes were allocated half the amount of space (1.27 m2 vs 2.5 m2 for RS-Mix and Control respectively) and feedface (concentrate feeder space) allowance (36 vs 71 cm per ewe) given to the Control group and were also subjected to two social mixing events. Aggressive behaviour at the feedface and time spent standing, lying, walking, feeding and ruminating wererecorded and faecal samples were collected for assessment of faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations. Higher aggression was observed in RS-Mix ewes during the first week of observation (P = 0.044), which gradually declined to the same level as Control ewes by the end of the study (P = 0.045). RS-Mix ewes were significantly less likely to be able to freely join the feedface compared to Controls (P = 0.022). No other significant treatment effects on aggressive behaviour or FGM during gestation were found. RS-Mix ewes displayed significantly higher ruminating behaviour at week 18 of gestation compared to Control ewes (P<0.001), but no other effects were seen on general pen behaviour. However, the effect of indoor housing had a significantimpact on primiparous ewes, who had lower weight gain (P = 0.015) and higher FGM concentrations (P = 0.014) compared to multiparous ewes regardless of treatment group. The data suggest that, although no sustained effects on behaviour or HPA axis responses were seen with the differences in space and feeder allowance or social stability at the levels used in this study, inexperienced ewes may find indoor housing more stressful; and are less able to adapt compared to multiparous ewes. These effects may influence the behaviour of the ewe at lambing time, and her offspring

Mindful violence? Responses to the Rambo series' shifting aesthetic of aggression

Rambo (2008) marked the return of Sylvester Stallone's iconic action hero. What is most striking about the fourth film (as the response from reviewers testifies), is its graphic violence. My intention here is to critically engage with Rambo (2008) as rewriting the series' established aesthetic of violence. My overarching aim is to highlight how the popular press has sought to read the 2008 version of Rambo according to the discursive narratives surrounding Stallone's 1980s action films. The negative response to Rambo, I argue, stems from relying on critical patterns that do not fit the film itself