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Food retail and food service outlets can be part of a chain, or independently operated. Chain food outlets are likely to have the most influence over community food environments but have not been routinely identified in studies which map and monitor access to food, highlighting an important knowledge gap. This study aimed to identify the food retail and food service outlets present within metropolitan Perth, including presence of chain and independent food outlets; and examine differences across local governments.
Children's physical activity and screen time behaviours impact their physical health and well-being. In Australia, less than half of children meet daily physical activity recommendations and only one-third meet daily screen time recommendations.
Overweight and obesity in children continues to increase. Yet, the role of active transport, namely walking, in mitigating these trends remains unclear. This study examined the cross-sectional association between walkability and children's Body Mass Index (BMI) and how this varies by socio-economic and lifestyle characteristics.
Child poverty remains a major global concern and a child's experience of deprivation is heavily shaped by where they live and the stability of their local neighbourhood. This study examines frequencies and patterns of residential mobility in children and young people at a population level using novel geospatial techniques to assess how often their physical environment changes and to identify geographical variations in social mobility.
We know relatively little about the role the neighbourhood built environment plays in promoting young children's physical activity, particularly its longitudinal effect either through repeated exposure to the same environment or through change in exposure by moving from one neighbourhood to another.
There is an urgent need for scalable interventions to promote physical activity in early childhood. An early childhood education and care physical activity policy intervention with implementation support strategies (Play Active) has been proposed for scale-up in Australia.
The school environment profoundly influences children's development, behaviours, and attitudes. This chapter delves into the relationship between school design and architecture, and their impact on bullying, victimisation, inclusivity, and student well-being. Research underscores the significant impact of school design on student social dynamics, advocating for collaborative efforts among stakeholders to craft effective anti-bullying policies.
Dog ownership is common in families with children and could play a role in children's social-emotional development. This study used longitudinal data on dog ownership and changing dog ownership to investigate their effects on young children's social-emotional development.
Childhood is a critical period for the development of movement behaviours such as physical activity, sleep and sedentary behaviour. The PLAYCE Cohort was established to investigate how movement behaviours change over early to middle childhood, across key behaviour settings and relationships with health and development. An overview of the PLAYCE cohort, summary of key findings to date, and future research opportunities are presented.
High levels of sedentary behaviour are associated with poor child health outcomes such as obesity. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are a key intervention setting. Most ECEC policy-based interventions focus on children's nutrition and physical activity with few aimed at children's sedentary behaviour.