Program Head, Healthy Behaviours and Environments; National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow ...

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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. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2024
• September 2024

A large proportion of preschoolers do not meet the recommended three hours of daily physical activity. A potential source of daily physical activity could be that provided via the family dog. This qualitative study aimed to explore the barriers and motivators to preschoolers playing with their dog and participating in family dog walks. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• March 2021

Early childhood is a critical window for preventing obesity and chronic disease. Yet, 1 in 4 Australian children aged 5 years and under are affected by overweight or obesity; and significant proportions of children under 5 years fail to meet guidelines for diet quality, physical activity (PA), screen time, and sleep. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• September 2021

Dog walking is important for public health and dog welfare, yet some owners do not walk with their dogs regularly. This study examined factors associated with participation in regular dog walking and intention to dog walk, in order to inform physical activity interventions. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2022
• March 2022

Emerging evidence indicates that the built environment influences early child development. Access to, and the quality of, built environment features vary with the socioeconomic status (SES) of neighbourhoods. It has not yet been established whether the association between built environment features and early child development varies by neighbourhood SES. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2022
• June 2022

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are a key setting to support improvements in the physical activity of young children. This umbrella review gathered and synthesised systematic review evidence of the effectiveness of interventions in the ECEC setting on the physical activity levels of children aged 0–6. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2022
• February 2022

To advance active transport, robust policy-relevant evidence is needed to understand how to change behaviour and to support decision-making by policy makers and practitioners. Currently, however, priority research questions that are most critical for advancing active transport have not been identified. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• December 2021

Social emotional development is imperative to young children's long-term psychological and physical health. Physical activity (PA) may be important for young children's social emotional development. The association between preschooler PA duration and intensity and social emotional development was investigated. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• May 2021

Emerging evidence supports the physical health and social benefits of dog ownership. This study examined the longitudinal effect of dog ownership and dog walking on mental health. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• June 2021