Background: Primary prevention of childhood overweight is an international priority. In Australia 20-25% of 2-8 year olds are already overweight. These children are at substantially increased the risk of becoming overweight adults, with attendant increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Early feeding practices determine infant exposure to food (type, amount, frequency) and include responses (eg coercion) to infant feeding behaviour (eg. food refusal). There is correlational evidence linking parenting style and early feeding practices to child eating behaviour and weight status. A focus on early feeding is consistent with the national focus on early childhood as the foundation for life-long health and well being. The NOURISH trial aims to implement and evaluate a community-based intervention to promote early feeding practices that will foster healthy food preferences and intake and preserve the innate capacity to self-regulate food intake in young children.
This article presents a selection of findings from a literature review of best practice models and outcomes in the education of visually impaired children. The review suggested that a key focus of research in this area has been upon the concept of 'access', particularly with regards to barriers children with visual impairment face in accessing visual information. Given the broad scope of the literature review, we focus upon access to print literacy as an illustrative example. The potential impact of reduced access to the curriculum and the effectiveness of teaching approaches adopted to reduce these barriers are presented. The relative merits of two approaches to improve access are contrasted: providing children with accessible material in their preferred medium (e.g., large print), and teaching children 'access skills' (including the use of technology). There is evidence to show that both approaches are important, but teaching children access skills has important longerterm benefits for visually impaired children and young people. In spite of this evidence, it appears that this approach to teaching may often be neglected. Links are made with other areas of the curriculum to illustrate that this dual view of access is a helpful way of conceptualising the broader educational needs of visually impaired pupils.
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