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IntroductionThe media can influence and shape public perception by choosing what and how to present information. 20,21 Highlighting some aspects of an issue and downplaying others contributes to how a particular issue is socially constructed.22,23 Furthermore issues that receive heavy coverage are often prioritised in public and policy agendas and the way they are framed can define public perceptions. 22,24 In Australia during February 2009 media attention focused on an academic report by medical professionals claiming that childhood obesity is a child protection issue. While media coverage on the issue of obesity has risen over recent years there has been only modest attention to analysing obesity representation within newsprint media. 25,26 This study looks at the attention given to the issue of childhood obesity within newsprint media around this period of time and compares and contrasts the framing of this issue with that found in academic literature. The study theorises why the media favours certain representations over others and evaluates the role of the media's impact on the issue of childhood obesity. Method Choice of mediaNewsprint media has been selected because it is more likely to receive attention in comparison to television and radio, which can often be playing while individuals are doing other things, thus being used as background noise.27 Furthermore, newsprint media coverage is highly correlated with the reporting of the same issues in other media sources and often sets the news agenda for other sources. 22 In addition, newsprint media

Objective: To determine the demographic profile of fast-food consumers among adult Singapore residents and ascertain whether fast-food consumption frequency is associated with diet quality and weight status. Design: A nationally representative cross-sectional survey including an FFQ and anthropometric measures. Participants were grouped based on their fast-food consumption frequency as non-consumer, occasional consumer or regular consumer, with regular defined as at least once per week. Setting: Individuals living in the community in Singapore. Subjects: Singapore residents (n 1627) aged 18-69 years of Chinese, Malay and Indian ethnicity. Results: Proportions of regular fast-food consumers were higher in younger age groups, higher income groups and middle education level groups. Mean daily energy intake was positively associated with fast-food consumption frequency (non-consumers 9636 kJ (2303 kcal); occasional consumers 11 159 kJ (2667 kcal); regular consumers 13 100 kJ (3131 kcal); P for trend , 0?001). Fast-food consumers were more likely to exceed the RDA for energy, fat and saturated fat, and less likely to meet wholegrain and fruit recommendations. Both regular consumers (OR 5 1?24; 95 % CI 1?03, 1?51) and occasional consumers (OR 5 1?52; 95 % CI 1?32, 1?77) were more likely to have a waist:hip ratio indicating abdominal obesity. Occasional consumers were more likely to have a BMI $ 23?0 kg/m 2 (OR 5 1?19; 95 % CI 1?04, 1?37), whereas regular consumers were less likely (OR 5 0?76; 95 % CI 0?64, 0?91) to have an 'at-risk' BMI. Conclusions: Fast-food consumption is most prevalent in young adults, high income and middle education level groups. Frequent fast-food consumption in Singapore is associated with unfavourable dietary and nutrient profiles and abdominal obesity.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has updated the Clinical Practice Guidelines on Lipids to provide doctors and patients in Singapore with evidence-based treatment for lipids. This article reproduces the introduction and executive summary (with recommendations from the guidelines) from the MOH Clinical Practice Guidelines on Lipids, for the information of SMJ readers. Chapters and page numbers mentioned in the reproduced extract refer to the full text of the guidelines, which are available from the Ministry of Health website:

Objective: To examine realist policy options for the South Australian government to improve food security. Design: Semi-structured interviews with twenty-four key South Australian food security stakeholders. Setting: Food security is a global issue that affects both developing and developed countries. Governments are well placed to improve food security but the solutions are not always evident. Subjects: Policy makers, leaders of non-government organisations, private enterprise and front-line food security workers in South Australia. Results: The research produced forty-four potential policy options for the South Australian government to improve food security. Conclusions: Stakeholders offered detailed policy solutions for the local context. This illustrates how gathering local evidence expands understanding on an issue. The process used to generate these policy options is applicable to other public health problems and other contexts.

With a global focus on improving maternal and child nutrition through the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, it is important to understand food insecurity in pregnant women and families with young children, as food insecurity at these life stages can have ongoing negative health consequences. However, factors that influence food insecurity among this population group are not well understood. This scoping review investigates the factors that influence food insecurity among pregnant women and households with young children aged 0–6 years living in high-income countries. A scoping literature review was conducted using four electronic databases. The search combined terms relevant to: food security, determinants, pregnancy and family and high-income countries. Only full text and English language articles were included. The search identified 657 titles and abstracts; 29 articles were included in the review. A majority (70%) of the studies were conducted in the United States and were mostly either cross-sectional or secondary data analysis of existing population data. Factors associated with food insecurity were identified and grouped into 13 constructs. These included social, economic and health risk factors, food access and utilization factors and health and dietary outcomes. This scoping review identifies the factors associated with food insecurity among pregnant women and families with young children that could be used to better measure and understand food insecurity, which could assist in developing program and policy responses. This review also highlights the lack of literature from high-income countries outside the US.

A s the disease burden and costs of diet-related diseases in Australia are high, and are unequally distributed among the population, nutrition is considered a priority public health issue that has been gaining increasing attention over the past two decades.

term can mean various things to different people (Maxwell & Smith, 1992). BACKGROUNDThe concept of 'food security' originated from international discussions during the mid-1970s global food crisis. The initial focus of attention was primarily on food supply problems; of assuring the availability and to some degree the price stability of basic foodstuffs at the international and national level (Overseas Development Institute, 1997). This initial focus on food supply volume and stability is refl ected in the 1974 World Food Summit defi nition: 'availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fl uctuations in production and prices' (United Nations, 1975). In 1983 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) expanded its concept to include securing access by vulnerable people to available supplies, implying that attention should be balanced between the demand and supply side of the food security equation: 'ensuring that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to the basic food that they need' (Food and Agriculture Organisation, 1983). This defi nition was revised in 1996 at the World Food Summit to include the individual and household level in addition to the regional and national level: 'food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access