News and media releases

WHAT'S NEW

Kids drink 'alarming' levels of soft drink

A study led by Lana Hebden published in the current issue of Preventive Medicine, found that 24 per cent of the 8058 kids surveyed were drinking an "alarming" five or more cups of soft drink a week. "We also found students who drank soft drink with meals at home were almost 10 times as likely to be high consumers of these drinks." View more details from here.

"Walking to work in Sydney" is out now

PANORG just released a report about walking to work in Sydney during 2001 to 2011. Please click here for the full report.

Rich pay packet, poor health

Dr Alexis St.George recently published a paper on "Who should we target" in a health promotion survey that reached more than 3 million full and part-time workers in the state by occupation. They then assessed risk factors such as body mass, waist circumference, smoking and exercise levels for each group using Australian Bureau of Statistics and Census data. The key finding is that the a one-size-fits-all approach to health promotion was doomed to fail. More details can be seen at Optus Zoo.

Sweets for the sweetly behaved not helpful for children's weight

Cutting screen time and not rewarding children's good behaviour with sweets are among the steps parents could take to reduce overweight and obesity in children before they start school. The study, led by Dr Louise Hardy, published in the journal Preventive Medicine also showed many parents do not realise their children have a weight problem. See more from University's News. When she was asked in The Project how to form a good behaviour as a parent, she emphasized not to turn TV on especially during day time. Eating around the dinner table with TV off will avoid over eating. Breast feeding is also a good start for new parents. (Scroll through about 2/3 of the way to see Lou’s segment.)

Can't run, can't throw

from Sydney Morning Herald

As the lead author on an article just released in the journal Paediatrics, Dr Louise Hardy was featured in the Sydney Morning Herald on 24th July, as well as various radio interviews. Based on the SPANS 2010 survey, the article shows that many NSW school students lack skills in throwing, running and jumping, which are the building blocks of sports and many types of physical activity.

Publication:

Hardy LL, Reinten-Reynolds T, Espinel P, Zask A, & Okely AD. (2012) Prevalence and correlates of low motor skill competency in Australian children. Pediatrics 2012. (Published online July 23, 2012) (doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-0345)

Weight and weight related behaviours among NSW students from low SES and non-English speaking backgrounds: Secondary analysis of the NSW SPANS 2010

Using SPANS 2010 data, PANORG has released a new report showing significant socioeconomic and cultural variations in students’ health behaviours. View report here.

Regional visit – Dubbo

Photo from the Daily Liberal, Dubbo.

Lesley King from PANORG was the keynote speaker at an event in Western NSW Local Health District, “Healthy Weight Research Update” on 14 June 2012 in Dubbo. The presentation to local health and education professionals highlighted the need for local actions to promote physical activity and nutrition amongst adults and children, in order to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Lesley was interviewed and featured in the Dubbo Daily Liberal newspaper and local TV.

Evidence update: Obesity prevention across the life-course

PANORG has the lastest evidence report prepared for NSW Ministry of Health in order to guide the State Obesity Plan. The report can be viewed from the section of Evidence summaries of intervention research.

Healthy Workplace 10 step guide

Drawing upon best available evidence and health promotion principles, PANORG, Heart Foundation NSW and Cancer Council NSW have developed a resource for what we saw as a gap in the market – a practical guide to assist small to medium sized businesses (2-200 employees) implement sustainable cost-effective workplace health programs. The resource has been designed as a 10 step process, and offers suggestions for practical activities. The centrefold of the resource provides a simple checklist, designed for an employer to select the elements of a workplace health program that best suit their business. They can mix and match strategies related to nutrition, physical activity, quitting smoking and stress management. The resource was ‘road tested’ with a sample of small businesses in NSW, to assess its relevance and potential usefulness. Download a copy here, or email us for a printed copy

MEDIA RELEASES

Press release: Too much screen time eating into playtime

21 November 2011
The 380-page report on the 2010 NSW Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey was released today by the Minister for Healthy Lifestyles, Kevin Humphries, and the Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli. PANORG's Louise Hardy, the principal investigator of the survey, said the good news was that the proportion of children who were obese or overweight - 22.8 per cent - had not increased since the previous survey in 2004. Read the newspaper article.

Press release: Cartoon characters wage war on children's bellies

11 September 2011
PANORG researchers undertook a study, in collaboration with the Cancer Council, on food packaging, the results of which reveal that more than 75 per cent of promotional characters on Australian food packets spruik products to children that are high in fat, salt, and sugar. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 43(5): 349-355 View the press release

Stop The Junk

4 July 2011
Our research into the failure of industry self-regulation to reduce children’s exposure to fast-food advertising on television, recently published in the Medical Journal of Australia, sparked a tide of media items - across TV news, radio, and metropolitan and regional newspapers. Authors Kathy Chapman from Cancer Council NSW and Lana Hebden from PRC responded to media interest for over a week. Media coverage of the issue was boosted significantly by the AMA, who took the opportunity to call on the federal Government to ban junk food advertisements. Online forums also took up the issue, with articles in The Conversation and Crikey. View the article

1 April 2011
To coincide with the April ‘Food and Fitness’ issues of the ‘Child’ print magazines, Research Dietitian, Lana Hebden, looks at food advertising and children. View the article

Press release: SPANS 2010 : NSW child obesity prevalence plateaus

12 January 2011
NSW Department of Health today released a Summary Report of the results of SPANS 2010. This summary was conducted by PANORG, on behalf of NSW Health. The Chief Investigator was Dr Louise Hardy. View the press release View the Executive Summary