Global positioning system: a new opportunity in physical activity measurement

Accurate measurement of physical activity is a pre-requisite to monitor population physical activity levels and design effective interventions. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology offers potential to improve the measurement of physical activity. This paper 1) reviews the extant literature on the application of GPS to monitor human movement, with a particular emphasis on free-living physical activity, 2) discusses issues associated with GPS use, and 3) provides recommendations for future research. Overall findings show that GPS is a useful tool to augment our understanding of physical activity by providing the context (location) of the activity and used together with Geographical Information Systems can provide some insight into how people interact with the environment. However, no studies have shown that GPS alone is a reliable and valid measure of physical activity

Effects of worksite health promotion interventions on employee diets: a systematic review

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.Abstract Background Public health strategies place increasing emphasis on opportunities to promote healthy behaviours within the workplace setting. Previous research has suggested worksite health promotion programmes have positive effects on physical activity and weight loss, yet little is known regarding their effects on dietary behaviour. The aim of this review was to assess the effects of worksite interventions on employee diets. Methods Electronic databases (MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, EMBASE, LexisNexis) were searched for relevant articles published between 1995 and April 2009. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they were peer-reviewed English language publications describing a worksite-based health promotion intervention with minimum study duration of eight weeks. All study designs were eligible. Studies had to report one or more diet-related outcome (energy, fat, fruit, or vegetable intakes). Methodological quality was assessed using a checklist that included randomisation methods, use of a control group, and study attrition rates. Results Sixteen studies were included in the review. Eight programmes focussed on employee education, and the remainder targeted change to the worksite environment, either alone or in combination with education. Study methodological quality was moderate. In general, worksite interventions led to positive changes in fruit, vegetable and total fat intake. However, reliance on self-reported methods of dietary assessment means there is a significant risk of bias. No study measured more robust outcomes such as absenteeism, productivity, or healthcare utilisation. Conclusions The findings of this review suggest that worksite health promotion programmes are associated with moderate improvement in dietary intake. The quality of studies to date has been frequently sub-optimal and further, well designed studies are needed in order to reliably determine effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Future programmes to improve employee dietary habits should move beyond individual education and aim to intervene at multiple levels of the worksite environment.Published versio

Relationships between frequency of family meals, BMI and nutritional aspects of the home food environment among New Zealand adolescents

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous research has documented the positive effects of family meals on the dietary quality of adolescents. The objective of the current study is to examine associations between frequency of family meals and body mass index (BMI), other aspects of the home food environment, and related nutrition behaviors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were collected during baseline measurements of the Pacific Obesity Prevention In Communities study. In total, 3245 ethnically diverse students completed a questionnaire about their nutrition behaviors and were weighed and measured for height.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In total, 42% of adolescents ate a family meal on all of the previous five school nights. Frequency of family meals was modestly associated with BMI in bivariate analysis (p = 0.045), but lost significance when demographic characteristics were included in the model. Frequency of family meals was associated with many positive aspects of home food environment and positive nutrition behaviors, including parental support for healthy eating, limits on television use, having fruit available at home, consuming five fruits and vegetables a day, eating breakfast, and bringing lunch from home. Surprisingly, no relationships were observed between frequency of family meals and accessibility and consumption of many high fat/high sugar foods.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings suggest that the positive effect of family meals may reflect an overall positive home food environment. Families who have meals together have more healthful foods available at home and support their child in eating healthfully. There were no relationships between family meals and high fat/high sugar foods; this suggest that while families may prioritize eating together, messages about limiting the availability and consumption of these snack foods are not getting through.</p

Couch potatoes to jumping beans: A pilot study of the effect of active video games on physical activity in children

The primary objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of active video games on children's physical activity levels

Effect of voluntary Health Star Rating labels on healthier food purchasing in New Zealand: Longitudinal evidence using representative household purchase data

Front-of-pack labelling (FoPL) aims to promote healthier diets by altering consumer food purchasing behaviour. We quantify the impact of the voluntary Health Star Rating (HSR) FoPL adopted by New Zealand (NZ) in 2014, on (i) the quantity of foods purchased by HSR scores and food groups and (ii) the quantities of different nutrients purchased. We used Nielsen HomeScan household purchasing panel data over 2013-2019, linked to Nutritrack packaged food composition data. Fixed effects analyses were used to estimate the association of HSR with product and nutrient purchasing. We controlled for NZ-wide purchasing trends and potential confounding at the household and product level. In 2019, HSR-labelled products accounted for 24% (2890) of 12 040 products in the dataset and 32% of purchasing volume. Of HSR-labelled products, 1339 (46%) displayed a rating of 4.0-5.0 stars and 556 (19%) displayed a rating of 0.5-2.0 stars. We found little or no association between HSR labelling and the quantities of different foods purchased. Introduction of HSR was, however, associated with lower sodium (-9%, 95% CI -13% to -5%), lower protein (-3%, 95% CI -5% to 0%) and higher fibre (5%, 95% CI 2% to 7%) purchases when purchased products carrying an HSR were compared with the same products prior to introduction of the programme. Robust evidence of HSR labelling changing consumer purchasing behaviour was not observed. The positive effect on nutrient purchasing of HSR-labelled foods likely arises from reformulation of products to achieve a better HSR label

Cardiovascular disease self-management: pilot testing of an mHealth healthy eating program

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is crucial in the management of cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet attendance is poor. Mobile technology (mHealth) offers a potential solution to increase reach of CR. This paper presents two development studies to determine mobile phone usage in adults with CVD and to evaluate the acceptability of an mHealth healthy eating CR program. Methods: CR attendees were surveyed to determine mobile phone usage rates. A second single-subject pilot study investigated perceptions of a 4-week theory-based healthy eating mHealth program and explored pre-post changes in self-efficacy. Results: 74 adults with CVD completed the survey (50/74 male; mean age 63 &plusmn; 10). Nearly all had mobile phones (70/74; 95%) and used the Internet (69/74; 93%), and most were interested in receiving CR by text message (57/74; 77%). 20 participants took part in the healthy eating pilot study. Participants read all/most of the text messages, and most (19/20) thought using mobile technology was a good way to deliver the program. The website was not widely used as visiting the website was reported to be time consuming. Exploratory t-tests revealed an increase in heart healthy eating self-efficacy post program, in particular the environmental self-efficacy subset (Mean = 0.62, SD = 0.74, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Text messaging was seen as a simple and acceptable way to deliver nutrition information and behavior change strategies; however, future research is needed to determine the effectiveness of such programs

Effects of a free school breakfast programme on school attendance, achievement, psychosocial function, and nutrition: a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Approximately 55,000 children in New Zealand do not eat breakfast on any given day. Regular breakfast skipping has been associated with poor diets, higher body mass index, and adverse effects on children's behaviour and academic performance. Research suggests that regular breakfast consumption can improve academic performance, nutrition and behaviour. This paper describes the protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial of a free school breakfast programme. The aim of the trial is to determine the effects of the breakfast intervention on school attendance, achievement, psychosocial function, dietary habits and food security.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Sixteen primary schools in the North Island of New Zealand will be randomised in a sequential stepped wedge design to a free before-school breakfast programme consisting of non-sugar coated breakfast cereal, milk products, and/or toast and spreads. Four hundred children aged 5-13 years (approximately 25 per school) will be recruited. Data collection will be undertaken once each school term over the 2010 school year (February to December). The primary trial outcome is school attendance, defined as the proportion of students achieving an attendance rate of 95% or higher. Secondary outcomes are academic achievement (literacy, numeracy, self-reported grades), sense of belonging at school, psychosocial function, dietary habits, and food security. A concurrent process evaluation seeks information on parents', schools' and providers' perspectives of the breakfast programme.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This randomised controlled trial will provide robust evidence of the effects of a school breakfast programme on students' attendance, achievement and nutrition. Furthermore the study provides an excellent example of the feasibility and value of the stepped wedge trial design in evaluating pragmatic public health intervention programmes.</p> <p>Trial Registration Number</p> <p>Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) - ACTRN12609000854235</p

A salt-reduction smartphone app supports lower-salt food purchases for people with cardiovascular disease: Findings from the SaltSwitch randomised controlled trial

Background SaltSwitch is an innovative smartphone application (app) that enables shoppers to scan the barcode of a packaged food and receive an immediate, interpretive, traffic light nutrition label on the screen, along with suggestions for lower salt alternatives. Our aim was to determine the effectiveness of SaltSwitch to support people with cardiovascular disease to make lower salt food choices. Design Six-week, two-arm, parallel, randomised controlled trial in Auckland, New Zealand (2 weeks baseline and 4 weeks intervention). Methods Sixty-six adults with diagnosed cardiovascular disease (mean (SD) age 64 (7) years) were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either the SaltSwitch smartphone app or control (usual care). The primary outcome was the salt content of household packaged food purchases during the 4-week intervention (g/MJ). Secondary outcomes were the saturated fat content (g/MJ), energy content (kJ/kg) and expenditure (NZ$) of household food purchases; systolic blood pressure (mmHg), urinary sodium (mg) and use and acceptability of the SaltSwitch app. Results Thirty-three participants with cardiovascular disease were allocated to the SaltSwitch intervention, and 33 to the control group. A significant reduction in mean household purchases of salt was observed (mean difference (95% confidence interval), -0.30 (-0.58 to -0.03) g/MJ), equating to a reduction of ∼0.7 g of salt per person per day during the 4-week intervention phase. There were no significant between-group differences in any secondary outcomes (all P > 0.05). Conclusions The SaltSwitch smartphone app is effective in supporting people with cardiovascular disease to make lower salt food purchases. A larger trial with longer follow-up is warranted to determine the effects on blood pressure. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=365784&isReview=true ACTRN12614000206628

The effect of active video games by ethnicity, sex and fitness: Subgroup analysis from a randomised controlled trial

Background: The prevention and treatment of childhood obesity is a key public health challenge. However, certain groups within populations have markedly different risk profiles for obesity and related health behaviours. Well-designed subgroup analysis can identify potential differential effects of obesity interventions, which may be important for reducing health inequalities. The study aim was to evaluate the consistency of the effects of active video games across important subgroups in a randomised controlled trial (RCT).Findings: A two-arm, parallel RCT was conducted in overweight or obese children (n = 322; aged 10-14 years) to determine the effect of active video games on body composition. Statistically significant overall treatment effects favouring the intervention group were found for body mass index, body mass index z-score and percentage body fat at 24 weeks. For these outcomes, pre-specified subgroup analyses were conducted among important baseline demographic (ethnicity, sex) and prognostic (cardiovascular fitness) groups. No statistically significant interaction effects were found between the treatment and subgroup terms in the main regression model (p = 0.36 to 0.93), indicating a consistent treatment effect across these groups.Conclusions: Preliminary evidence suggests an active video games intervention had a consistent positive effect on body composition among important subgroups. This may support the use of these games as a pragmatic public health intervention to displace sedentary behaviour with physical activity in young people. © 2014 Foley et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd