A century of trends in adult human height

Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5–22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3–19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8–144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries

Teachers’ perceptions and understanding of children’s fluid intake

No public health data exists on elementary teachers’ perceptions of both their own fluid intake and of their elementary school aged children’s fluid intake. A total of 271 (20 males, 251 females) teachers in developed areas of Australia, Belgium, England, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America completed an online questionnaire (Feb–Mar 2019) on: (i) their fluid intake, (ii) their perception and understanding of children’s fluid intake and (iii) barriers in the school day that they felt prevented school children consuming fluids. Overall, the data indicated that teachers consume considerably lower amounts than recommended themselves, but have a good awareness of children’s fluid intake and estimate children drink approximately half (1 litre (34% n = 93)) of what is recommended per day. The results were also similar to those reported by children previously. Yet, the data highlighted a lack of active encouragement of drinking water throughout the school day by teachers, with only 11% (n = 29) suggesting they actively encourage children to drink and 45% (n = 123) reporting no active encouragement at all. It is recommended as a public health measure that all school children consume an extra cup of water during lunch times in those schools where water intake was recognized as sub optimal. Furthermore, depending on weather conditions, a cup of water before, during and after Physical Education lessons should be encouraged by teachers. Water coolers or bottles may be used as a supplementary resource, provided that hygiene is maintained. From an educational perspective, more professional development needs to be provided to teachers on the importance of regular water consumption, and more time dedicated across the elementary curriculum to educational understanding of fluid consumption

Improving health through diet and exercise in children

We know that nutritious foods and quality physical activity are two of the fundamental needs for normal growth and development of children. Food based dietary guidelines and physical activity recommendations have universal evidence base but the teaching of fundamental movement skills is limited without support. Given the importance of prevention of childhood obesity the distal drivers also need to be examined including poverty. Interventions trialled in carefully controlled conditions while shown to have efficacy are not effective in the real world. There is a need for more research and rigorous evaluation of interventions in combinations of settings and with innovative research designs rather than the traditional randomised controlled trial of limited duration. What works needs to be defined and measured differently. One example of a 14 year and ongoing physical activity and nutrition intervention, Project Energize in the Waikato region of New Zealand is described along-side innovative measures of effectiveness such as time to run 550m and assessment of dental health. Translation of research findings into public health actions is a challenge alongside the effects of global climate change, trade agreement, multinational companies and the influence of social media in informing people. The need is to take action now, the child cannot wait

The Nutritional Value of Children\u27s Menus in Chain Restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Objective: Obesity in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland is rising, as is the frequency of eating out in restaurants. The aim of this study was to investigate the nutritional quality of children\u27s menus in restaurants. Design: Cross-sectional review of menus aimed at children from 20 popular chain restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Main Outcome Measures: Total energy, fat, saturated fat, and salt were collected from every food item on the menu in each restaurant. All potential meal combinations were created. A total of 39,266 meals were analysed. Analysis: Meals were compared with UK nutritional guidelines. Meals from fast food and full-service restaurants and main meals and meal deals were compared. Results: The average meal for younger children (aged 2–5 years) contained 609 ±117 kcal, and for older children (6–12 years) 653 ± 136 kcal compared with guidelines of 364 and 550 kcal, respectively. A total of 68% of younger children\u27s and 55% of older children\u27s meals contained more total fat than recommended and more than 4 times the amount of saturated fat. Fast food restaurant meals contained less energy, fat, and salt than did full-service restaurants, and meal deals were less likely to meet dietary guidelines than were main meals alone. Conclusion and Implications: Eating in chain restaurants, in particular meal deals, does not contribute positively to the diet of children in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities1,2. This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity3,4,5,6. Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017—and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions—was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing—and in some countries reversal—of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories

‘Project Spraoi’: A randomized control trial to improve nutrition and physical activity in school children

Background Recent evidence predicts that by 2030, Ireland will have the highest rate of obesity in Europe. Consequently, there are concerns that health problems associated with this condition will present in childhood. Studies have shown that interventions based on increasing physical activity (PA) levels, reducing sedentary lifestyles and improving nutritional habits all pose protective mechanisms against obesity and its related disorders in youth. Yet, to date, there are no interventions being delivered in Ireland that concurrently target PA, nutritional habits and sedentary time amongst school children. Purpose The purpose of this study is to implement and evaluate an intervention that targets PA, nutritional habits and sedentary time in primary school children. Methods ‘Project Spraoi’ is a school based health promotion intervention, based on ‘Project Energize,’ which has been in operation in New Zealand since 2004. Measures of PA, nutritional knowledge/behaviours and health parameters including body composition, blood pressure (BP) and fitness will be gathered before and after the programme completion (24 months). For comparative purposes, we will compare these scores to a separate group who will not participate in the intervention and to counterparts partaking in Project Energize, NZ. Conclusions There is strong evidence that quality multi-component school-based programmes can increase PA, improve weight status and promote healthier dietary habits. Due to the increasing obesity levels, the implementation of such a programme that is rigorously evaluated is warranted in Ireland

Beverage consumption and BMI of British schoolchildren aged 9-13 years

Objective Adequate fluid intake has been well documented as important for health but whether it has adverse effects on overall energy and sugar intakes remains under debate. Many dietary studies continue to refrain from reporting on beverage consumption, which the present study aimed to address. Design A cross-sectional survey investigated self-reported measures of dietary intake and anthropometric measurements. Setting Primary and secondary schools in south-west London, UK. Subjects Boys and girls (n 248) aged 9-13 years. Results Boys consumed 10 % and girls consumed 9 % of their daily energy intake from beverages and most children had total sugar intakes greater than recommended. Beverages contributed between a quarter and a third of all sugars consumed, with boys aged 11-13 years consuming 32 % of their total sugar from beverages. There was a strong relationship between consumption of beverages and energy intake; however, there was no relationship between beverage type and either BMI or BMI Z-score. Fruit juices and smoothies were consumed most frequently by all girls and 9-10-year-old boys; boys aged 11-13 years preferred soft drinks and consumed more of their daily energy from soft drinks. Milk and plain water as beverages were less popular. Conclusions Although current health promotion campaigns in schools merit the attention being given to improving hydration and reducing soft drinks consumption, it may be also important to educate children on the energy and sugar contents of all beverages. These include soft drinks, as well as fruit juices and smoothies, which are both popular and consumed regularly. © 2011 The Authors

Coaches' experience of the "Gaelic4Teens" program in Ireland

This paper examines Irish volunteer coaches’ experiences of the content and delivery of the “Gaelic4Teens” coach education initiative, and further seeks to evaluate if participants coaching behavior changed as a result. The Gaelic4Teens program aims to help coaches better understand the female teenage participant through enhancing the coach–athlete relationship, which in turn, seeks to help retain young females in the sport. Qualitative data were gathered over a 16-week period from August to November 2020 and comprised of pre and post online focus groups with eight (three females and five males) volunteer coaches; one from each of the eight rural community sport settings (n = 8) in Ireland. Findings revealed that the coach education program had a meaningful impact on coaches’ abilities to competently work with female adolescents. Specifically, the Gaelic4Teens program is effective as a blended learning coach education program that encouraged a coaching environment that empowered the female athletes. Further analysis, with additional stakeholder input, is warranted to ascertain its long-term effectiveness

Project Energize: Intervention development and 10 years of progress in preventing childhood obesity Public Health

Prevention of childhood obesity is a global priority. The school setting offers access to large numbers of children and the ability to provide supportive environments for quality physical activity and nutrition. This article describes Project Energize, a through-school physical activity and nutrition programme that celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2015 so that it might serve as a model for similar practices, initiatives and policies elsewhere. The programme was envisaged and financed by the Waikato District Health Board of New Zealand in 2004 and delivered by Sport Waikato to 124 primary schools as a randomised controlled trial from 2005 to 2006. The programme has since expanded to include all 242 primary schools in the Waikato region and 70 schools in other regions, including 53,000 children. Ongoing evaluation and development of Project Energize has shown it to be sustainable (ongoing for \u3e10 years), both effective (lower obesity, higher physical fitness) and cost effective (one health related cost quality adjusted life year between $18,000 and$30,000) and efficient ($45/child/year) as a childhood \u27health\u27 programme. The programme\u27s unique community-based approach is inclusive of all children, serving a population that is 42 % Ma¯ori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. While the original nine healthy eating and seven quality physical activity goals have not changed, the delivery and assessment processes has been refined and the health service adapted over the 10 years of the programme existence, as well as adapted over time to other settings including early childhood education and schools in Cork in Ireland. Evaluation and research associated with the programme delivery and outcomes are ongoing. The dissemination of findings to politicians and collaboration with other service providers are both regarded as priorities

Results from Ireland\u27s 2014 report card on physical activity in children and youth

Background: Physical activity (PA) levels are a key performance indicator for policy documents in Ireland. The first Ireland Report Card on Physical Activity in Children and Youth aims to set a robust baseline for future surveillance of indicators related to PA in children and youth. Methods: Data collected between 2003-2010 on more than 35,000 7- to 18-year-old children and youth were used and graded using a standardized grading system for 10 indicators. Results: Grades assigned for the indicators were as follows: overall physical activity levels, D-; sedentary behavior (TV viewing), C-; organized sport participation, C-: physical education, D-; active play, inconclusive (INC); active transportation, D; school, C-, community and the built environment, B; family, INC; and government, INC. Conclusions: PA recommendations exist in Ireland but this Report Card has shown that participation is still low. A number of promising policies, programs and services are in place but these require thorough evaluation and adequate resourcing. Agreement and implementation of a common framework for the systematic surveillance of indictors related to PA of children and youth is necessary to monitor change over time and ensure the impact of promising work is captured