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OBESITY

JOANNA BRIGGS INSTITUTE. Effective dietary interventions for overweight and obese children. Nursing Standard Vol 22, No 18 - 9 January 2008: 35-40
Abstract: Summary: This information on best practice discusses the evidence on dietary interventions for children and adolescents who are overweight and obese. The article has been reproduced with the permission of the Joanna Briggs Institute. It is based on a systematic review of research published by Blackwell Publishing Asia and conducted by the Australian Centre for Evidence Based Nutrition and Dietetics (Collins et al 2007). The primary references in this review are available online at: www.blackwell-synergy.com and to members of the Joanna Briggs Institute via the website: www.joannabriggs.edu.au

MURNAN, Judy and SHARMA, Manoj and others. Predicting childhood obesity prevention behaviors using social cognitive theory: children in China. International Quarterly of Community Health Education Vol 26, No 1 - 2006-2007: 73-84
Abstract: Four commonly suggested public health strategies to combat childhood obesity are limiting television viewing, encouraging daily physical activity, increasing fruit and vegetable intake, and increasing water consumption. This study examined the extent to which selected social cognitive theory constructs can predict these four behaviors in upper elementary Chinese children. A 55-item valid and reliable scale was administered to 282 fifth-graders. Minutes of physical activity was predicted by self-efficacy to exercise and number of times taught at school (R² = 0.198). Hours of TV watching was predicted by self-efficacy of watching less than two hours of TV (R² = 0.155). Glasses of water consumed was predicted by self-efficacy for drinking water, gender, and number of times taught about physical activity at school (R ² = 0.100). Servings of fruits and vegetables consumed was predicted by self-efficacy of eating fruits and vegetables (R² = 0.197). Social cognitive theory offers a useful framework for designing primary prevention interventions to reduce childhood obesity.

POLLACK, Keisha M and CHESKIN, Lawrence J. Obesity and workplace traumatic injury: does the science support the link? Injury Prevention Vol 13, No 5 - October 2007: 297-302
Abstract: Objective: To explore whether obesity is associated with non-fatal traumatic occupational injury. Design: Systematic literature review. Methods: The peer-reviewed literature was searched from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 2005 for studies on the risk of overweight and obesity on non-fatal traumatic occupational injuries among non-office employees. The search was conducted using Medline, eLCOSH, NIOSHTIC-2, CINAHL, PsycLit, and OSH-ROM. Studies were excluded that focused on military populations, chronic/repetitive workplace injuries, back pain, only height as a risk factor, or were not written in English. Results: The search identified only 12 studies. The risk of injury for obese versus non-obese employees overall was slightly increased, although many of the estimates were not statistically significant. In studies in which increased risk estimates were shown, there was limited exploration of the mechanism of obesity-related injury, but the influence of chronic disease, fatigue or sleepiness, ergonomics, and physical limitations were most often hypothesized. Discussion: With the current growing prevalence of obesity worldwide, more research is needed to better establish its impact on workplace injuries and lost work time. Studies are needed that use large diverse samples, advanced statistical methods, and control for potential confounders, and explore issues related to temporality. Gaining a better understanding of how obesity influences workplace injury may foster the development of interventions that address weight, while still emphasizing the important environmental and sociocultural risk factors for injury.

SAUNDERS, Karen L. Preventing obesity in pre-school children: a literature review. Journal of Public Health Vol 29, No 4 - December 2007: 368-375
Abstract: Background: Obesity in children is increasing worldwide, impacting on both long- and short-term health. Obesity prevention is an important contemporary public health priority and is firmly on the Government's agenda in the UK. Prevention involves addressing the main risk factors of diet and physical inactivity and also involves a wide range of environmental factors including access to sport and leisure, family life, diet, education and information. Methods: A literature review undertaken on preventing obesity in children aged <5. Results: The review confirms that there is a limited and immature evidence and lack of comprehensive evidence on effective strategies to prevent obesity in younger children. The overall quality of studies is poor. Conclusions: The need remains for structured, focused and systematic research on child obesity prevention. Well-designed studies examining a range of interventions remain a priority. The findings in this review support the recommendations in the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines on obesity.

WARIN, Megan and TURNER, Karen and others. Bodies, mothers and identities: rethinking obesity and the BMI. Sociology of Health and Illness Vol 30, No 1 - January 2008: 97-111
Abstract: Despite the intense level of attention directed towards obesity, there has been limited success in addressing the rising rates of this public health phenomenon. This paper argues that current approaches to obesity fail to consider concepts of embodiment, and in particular, that gendered and class-based experiences of embodiment are ignored in health promotion practices and policies. Drawing on Bourdieu's concept of habitus, this ethnographic study sought to locate obesity within the biographies and everyday experiences of two groups of women from differing socio-economic settings. Rather than identify with the clinical category of obesity, these women constructed identities that were refracted through a gendered and classed habitus, and in particular, through their role as mothers. Food provision and practices were central to constructs of mothering, and these relational identities were at odds with the promotion of individual behavioural changes. Moreover, these women's daily lives were shaped by different class-based aspects of habitus, such as employment. In demonstrating the ways in which obesity is enmeshed in participants’ taken-for-granted, everyday practices, we problematise the universality of health-promotion messages and highlight the integral role that the critical theory of habitus has in understanding the embodiment of obesity

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