Nutrition for infants and young children
BLISS: Baby-led introduction to solids
The Bliss randomised controlled trial followed 100 families that received guidance and support to follow a baby-led approach to the introduction of solids and 100 families that introduced solids in the usual manner. The study aimed to understand what these children ate, how their families functioned, whether growth differed between the two groups, and what happened in terms of iron status and choking during the first two years of life.
Learn more about the BLISS study
First Foods and Young Foods
The First Foods and Young Foods studies followed on from BLISS, to understand what New Zealand infants were eating, how they were being fed (baby-led or complementary), and whether pouch foods were being used as a method of feeding.
This was the first study internationally to explore pouch feeding.
Learn more about First foods and Young Foods Studies
Interventions for childhood obesity
APPLE - A Pilot Programme for Lifestyle and Exercise
APPLE - A Pilot Programme for Lifestyle and Exercise was the first study in New Zealand, and one of the first studies internationally, to show that community-based initiatives could successfully reduce the rate of excessive weight gain in primary school-aged children. This study aimed to change the environment in which children live so that appropriate levels of physical activity and healthy foods were more widely available, and easily accessible.
The study involved seven schools and communities in Otago, and showed benefits both at two years (at the end of the intervention) and at four years, which was two years after the APPLE community activity co-ordinators were no longer employed
Learn more about the APPLE study
POI - Sleeping, eating, and physical activity
The Prevention of Overweight in Infancy (POI) study was a 4-arm randomised controlled trial assessing whether extra education and support around sleep, breastfeeding, diet, and physical activity reduced the number of children showing excessive weight gain over the first two years of life. More than 800 Dunedin families took part in POI.
At two years of age, we observed that children who had received the sleep intervention had approximately half the odds of obesity than children who had not received the sleep intervention. This benefit was still apparent at 3.5 and 5 years of age. Funding for the original intervention plus follow-up at 3.5, 5 and 11 years of age was obtained from the Health Research Council of New Zealand.
Learn more about the POI study
PLAY: Explorative play and managed risk
The PLAY intervention aimed to increase activity and decrease bullying by developing inexpensive environments that stimulated explorative play (rolling hills, fallen logs) and implementing school policies that allowed children to experience reasonable levels of managed risk during play (climbing trees, bull-rush).
Sixteen schools and more than 900 primary-school aged children were involved in our PLAY randomised controlled trial.
Learn more about the PLAY study
MInT: Motivational interviewing in treatment
The MInT Study was a randomised controlled trial that aimed to understand whether motivational interviewing was an effective strategy to improve weight outcomes in young children, compared to usual care. The team also explored the acceptability of motivational interviewing as a technique to talk about child weight with parents.
The results of the study suggested that there was no additional benefit of using motivational interviewing compared to usual care for uptake of the intervention. However, the study showed that a traffic light system is an effective way of explaining children's weight to parents of children with obesity.
Learn more about the MInT study
FLAME: Family, lifestyle, activity, movement and eating
The Family, Lifestyle, Activity, Movement and Eating study was a four-year longitudinal cohort observational study designed to examine factors in early childhood which may contribute to the development of overweight and obesity. 242 Dunedin families were enrolled when their child was three years of age, and followed semi-annually until the children were seven.
Learn more about the FLAME study
Understanding the link between child sleep and obesity
DREAM - The Daily Rest, Eating and Activity Monitoring Study
The DREAM study was a randomized cross-over trial investigating if changing how children sleep affects what and when they eat and how active they are.
Research from the DREAM study found that getting less sleep resulted in children consuming more energy, especially from poorer food choices and highly processed foods. Children also had reduced Quality of Life when they slept less. Interestingly, there was little change in the physical activity patterns of the children.
These results help us to understand why children who sleep less are more likely to be overweight.