Search
Debbie Palmer BSc BND PhD Head, Nutrition in Early Life debbie.palmer@uwa.edu.au Head, Nutrition in Early Life Areas of research expertise: Maternal
Unhealthy outdoor food advertising is strongly linked to poor diet, highlighting the need for policies. Western Australian (WA) local governments can restrict advertising on their owned infrastructure through their Public Health Plans, but limited policy action has occurred.
The Healthy Living Practices (HLPs) outline nine essential guidelines for maintaining health in remote Aboriginal communities, yet high costs and poor availability make them financially out of reach for many families. We assessed the cost and availability of essential goods required to support the HLPs in eight remote Kimberley community stores, recording prices during three visits in 2022 as part of the SToP (See, Treat, Prevent) Skin Sores and Scabies Trial, and retrospectively comparing these (inflation-adjusted) with Perth and Broome prices in 2024.
This longitudinal analysis in Australian women evaluated change in diet quality and food and nutrient intakes from the third trimester of pregnancy to 1-year postpartum with comparison to national nutrition recommendations. Associations between diet quality, sociodemographic and health characteristics were also investigated.
Food environments are significant drivers of obesity and diet-related diseases, making them key targets for interventions that support healthier food choices. The role of Local Government Authorities is pivotal in shaping community food environments.
Despite the wide use of parenteral nutrition (PN) in neonatal intensive care units (NICU), there is limited evidence regarding the optimal time to commence PN in term and late preterm infants.
The human gut microbiome has increasingly been associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is a neurological developmental disorder, characterized by impairments to social interaction.
Residents of rural areas internationally typically experience chronic disease risk profiles worse than city dwellers. Poor diet, a key driver of chronic disease, has been associated with unhealthy food environments, and rural areas often experience limited access to healthy, fresh and affordable food.
Previous studies have suggested that individuals recovered from anorexia nervosa (AN) are characterized by increased serotonergic (5-HT) activity that might be related to elevated levels of anxiety. Assuming these traits to be also present in individuals at risk for AN, it was further hypothesized that restricting food intake might be a means to temporarily alleviate dysphoric affective states by reducing central nervous availability of tryptophan (TRP), the sole precursor of 5-HT.
Research on the consequences of breakfast skipping among students tends to focus on academic outcomes, rather than student wellbeing or engagement at school. This study investigated the association between breakfast skipping and cognitive and emotional aspects of school engagement.