An exercise in happiness: Physical activity choices and psychological wellbeing in post-partum mothers

Depression in the post-partum period affects a substantial number of mothers and can have serious consequences for quality of life and parenting. It is therefore imperative that the factors that can protect against and provide resilience to parental depression are identified. Exercise and physical activity has previously been found to be effective in decreasing symptoms of depression however the efficacy of exercise as an intervention is still unclear. Using a cross-sectional design and an opportunistic sample, this study sought to explore what exercise mothers choose to, or are able to, engage in and associations with depression and social support. Three-hundred and four mothers (mean age = 32.7 years) with young children (mean age = 14.2 months) completed an online questionnaire consisting of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPNDS), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and questions on their physical activity choices (what type, how often, etc). Mothers were divided into groups based on their self-reported exercise habits: No exercise (N-E), own exercise (O-E) and mother-baby exercise classes (M-B). The results found that mothers who engaged in mother-baby exercise classes had significantly less depression symptomology. Frequency of attending classes was associated with social support, with higher scores on the measure of depression related to lower levels of social support (in total and separately from family, friends, and significant others). Not participating in any exercise was reported to be related to lack of childcare and time. These results suggest that, outside of targeted interventions, mother who seek out group exercise classes gain in social support, which may be protective against depression. Assisting mothers with opportunities to engage with such classes should be a priority

Ambience in social learning: student engagement with new designs for learning spaces

An imperative to develop the social experience of learning has led to the design of informal learning spaces within libraries. Yet little is known about how these spaces are used by students or how students perceive them. Field work in one such space is reported. The general private study practice of undergraduates was captured through audio diaries, while activity in the learning space was directly observed, and students provided reflective perspectives in focus groups and through spot conversations. Results suggest such spaces are popular and yet stimulate limited group work. Yet other, less intense, forms of productive collaboration did occur and a taxonomy of four such types of encounter is offered. Of particular importance to students was access to a ‘social ambience’ for study. The results encourage institutions to design for a mixed economy of student choice over learning spaces and to consider modes of encouraging diversity in their use

More than meets the eye: A photo-elicitation study of gender (dis)affirmation in seven gender non-conforming university students

Clinical literature has reported on the increasing prevalence of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people and extensively documented the high levels of discrimination and poor mental wellbeing experienced by this group. However, research that explores how gender affirmation (or otherwise) in everyday life affects an individual’s lived experience is scant. This study aimed to address this crucial gap, employing photo-elicitation to collect authentic experiential accounts of how TGD students view their world. Seven TGD students took part and provided six photographs; 3 that represented salient aspects of gender affirmation and 3 that represented non-affirmation, along with explanatory textual commentary. The data were subjected to Thematic Analysis. Four themes were identified which highlight the complexities of TGD identities, as well as common sources of negativity and distress. Overall, this study provides valuable insight into gender affirmation among TGD students and offers an authentic lens alongside which other clinically-based quantitative research can be viewed. Documenting the lived experiences of TGD students is imperative if society is to move forward in understanding the complexity of gender identity in education

Prevalence of eating disorders amongst dancers: a systemic review and meta-analysis

Eating disorders in dancers are thought to be common, but the exact rates remain to be clarified. The aim of this study is to systematically compile and analyse the rates of eating disorde rs in dancers. A literature search, appraisal and meta-analysis were conducted. Thi rty-three relevant studies were published between 1966 and 2013 with sufficient data for extraction. Primary data were extracted as raw numbers or confidence intervals. Risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for controlled studies. The overall prevalence of eating disorders was 12.0% (16.4% for ballet dancers), 2.0% (4% for bal let dancers) for anorexia, 4.4% (2% for ballet dancers) for bulimia and 9.5% (14.9% for ballet dancers) for eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS). The dancer group had higher mean scores on the EAT-26 and the Eating Disorder Inventory subscales. Dancers, in general, had a higher risk of suffering from eating disorders in general, anorexia nervosa and EDNOS, but no higher risk of suffering from bulimia nervosa. The study concluded that as dancers had a three times higher risk of suffering from eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa and EDNOS, specifically designed services for this population should be considere

Anticipation of aerobic exercise increases planned energy intake for a post-exercise meal

In many situations, meals are planned (i.e. what and how much) before they are eaten, but how exercise influences this planning is unknown. Therefore, this study investigated whether anticipation of an exercise session alters food intake planned for post-exercise. Forty (16 male) regular exercisers (mean ± SD; age 23.3 ± 5.6 y, BMI 22.7 ± 3.3 kg/m2, body fat 25.6 ± 7.6%) completed the study. Subjects arrived ≥3 h post-prandial and were given two hypothetical scenarios for the following day: 1) morning rest (REST), or 2) morning rest with the addition of 1 h of hard aerobic exercise at 10:00–11:00 (EXERCISE). For each scenario subjects had to plan their lunch, to consume at 12:00, by serving themselves cheesy tomato pasta and chocolate buttons. Scenarios were randomised and separated by 5 min and foods were not consumed. EXERCISE increased total energy served by 24% (EXERCISE 3308 ± 1217 kJ; REST 2663 ± 924 kJ; P < 0.001), with increases in energy served from both pasta (+25%; P < 0.001) and chocolate buttons (+20%; P = 0.024). These results suggest aerobic exercise increases planned post-exercise energy intake, if a meal is planned in advance of exercise. Future research should examine the impact of exercise on meal planning at other meals, as well as how this behaviour impacts weight loss with exercise training

An ‘app’ropriate resource? Using mobile apps to provide feeding advice and support to parents

Feeding problems in children are extremely common and can affect long-term physical health, in addition to being acutely stressful for both the parent and child. Despite this, advice on child feeding is still poorly communicated to parents and many struggle to find professional support and advice when they experience problems feeding their child. The purpose of this research was to develop a resource to address this; one which allows for wide and cost-effective dissemination of expert advice and avoids traditional barriers to healthcare access. To this end, we developed a free-to-download mobile app for smartphones (and website version for non-app users). Following a review of the literature on infant feeding problems, the resource was developed to offer: (1) education on the most prevalent feeding difficulties; (2) interactive, tangible tools and tips to implement suggested strategies; and (3) assessment tools to monitor problem severity and parent/child subjective wellbeing. Mothers (N = 18) discussed their feeding experiences and appraised the mobile app and website prototypes. Feedback confirmed that feeding problems were common, guidance was inadequate, and that this resource was viewed as extremely helpful, novel, and contained a depth of information beyond anything previously seen. Importantly, mothers welcomed the possibility of using a mobile app to access feeding-related guidance. Overall, this resource represents a novel way to deliver education and guidance in an easy-to-use, highly accessible way that fits with modern parents’ lifestyles. Further evaluation activities are planned to test the efficacy of the resource as an intervention tool

Development and preliminary evaluation of the Child Feeding Guide website and app: a tool to support caregivers with promoting healthy eating in children.

Development and preliminary evaluation of the Child Feeding Guide website and app: a tool to support caregivers with promoting healthy eating in children

It’s not all about the baby: Post-partum weight loss as a motivator for breastfeeding initiation and continuation

It’s not all about the baby: Post-partum weight loss as a motivator for breastfeeding initiation and continuatio

Milk feeding, solid feeding and obesity risk: a review of the relationships between early life feeding practices and later adiposity

Childhood obesity is a major health issue with associated ill-health consequences during childhood and into later adolescence and adulthood. Given that eating behaviours are formed during early childhood, it is important to evaluate the relationships between early life feeding practices and later child adiposity. This review describes and evaluates recent literature exploring associations between child weight and the mode of milk feeding, the age of introducing solid foods and caregivers’ solid feeding practices. There are many inconsistencies in the literature linking early life feeding to later obesity risk and discrepancies may be related to inconsistent definitions, or a lack of control for confounding variables. This review summarises the literature in this area and identifies the need for large scale longitudinal studies to effectively explore how early life feeding experiences may interact with each other and with nutritional provision during later childhood to predict obesity risk

Body shape and weight loss as motivators for breastfeeding initiation and continuation

Breastfeeding rates in the UK are low. Efforts to promote breastfeeding typically include the known health benefits for mother and child, many of which are not immediate. Gaining immediate benefits can be effective motivators of behaviour. Body-related changes resulting from breastfeeding could be an immediate benefit. This study explored breastfeeding mothers’ reports of body-related changes as benefits of breastfeeding. Mothers (N = 182) who currently, or had recently, breastfed an infant completed a survey detailing their infant feeding choices and the perceived benefits of breastfeeding on their bodies. Half of the mothers felt that breastfeeding had a positive effect on their body. Benefits were grouped into five themes: (1) Returning to pre-pregnancy body shape; (2) Health benefits; (3) Physical benefits; (4) Eating benefits; (5) Psychological benefits. These themes highlight the numerous body-related benefits that mothers identified as resulting from breastfeeding and suggest that immediate, personal, and appearance-related gains of breastfeeding are highly valued. These findings indicate that interventions would likely benefit from emphasising the more immediate physical and psychological benefits of breastfeeding, alongside the health and bonding benefits, as a way to promote breastfeeding initiation and continuation in more women. This may be particularly effective for groups such as young mothers, where breastfeeding rates are low and whose emphasis on body image may be greater