Childhood obesity has reached alarming levels and the problem has assumed great significance for health care staff who work with overweight children and their families. Anecdotal accounts of the difficulties that may emerge when health care providers communicate that a child's weight is outside of the normal range, were a key stimulus for this review. A local government health department commissioned a review of literature on communicating with parents about childhood overweight and obesity. Literature concerned with communicating a child's overweight to parents was limited and, as a result, this review draws upon a disparate body of literature to examine what is known and what might be helpful for health care providers when discussing a child's weight with the child and parents. This paper identifies a range of factors influencing communication between health care workers and parents and offers a number of practical approaches and strategies for facilitating successful communication between health practitioners and the parents of children.

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The prevalence of smoking is much higher among the poor, marginalised and disenfranchised. Those who are dependent on alcohol and other drugs, suffering mental illness, and Indigenous people are among the heaviest smokers and are least likely to quit. This article describes a smallscale evaluation of a smoking cessation program, which used tailored nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) aimed at these groups, between 2004 to 2006. A mixed methodology approach to data collection was employed. The quantitative data indicated that a low level of success was achieved by program participants. The qualitative data provided rich accounts of peoples' experiences in the program. These could be used to develop more effective programs that take a full account of the complex issues that shape participants' responses to smoking cessation and provide greater levels of sustained motivation. Several issues related to the conduct of rigorous evaluation studies in this context are highlighted.

The project had a positive immediate impact upon young Indigenous participants who reported and demonstrated increased knowledge of sexual health issues and skills as peer educators. The evaluation documented the program development and the immediate effects on participants, but did not enable an assessment of long-term effects for participants, service providers or the community. The evaluation identified areas for program improvement and challenges for program sustainability. The initiative was well supported within the local community and peer educators continued to engage in opportunistic sexual health promotion.

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This article describes the rationale, development, and outcomes of two place-based, dual-language picture books with agricultural messages for women farmers and their families in Papua New Guinea. The purpose of the books was to disseminate better agricultural and livelihood practices to women farmers with low literacy. The books were designed and illustrated in collaboration with women farmers from two provinces. Evaluation data were collected through focus groups with local peer educators (village community educators [VCEs]). The VCEs reported changes in family practices related to marketing, budgeting, and saving that reflected messages in the books. The books helped the VCEs who had received livelihood and agricultural training to recall and implement the training in addition to sharing their knowledge. Farmers with low literacy were able to access the messages through the illustrations. Such place-based picture books are a powerful medium for low literacy women farmers and their families to learn about and reinforce positive livelihood and agricultural practices.

The short- and long-term effects of climate change on Papua New Guinea's agricultural sector have generated significant debate in recent times. Current literature demonstrates that different population groups have differing levels of vulnerability and resilience to the flow-on effects of climate change, particularly drought. Yet different schools of thought on the country's food security and effects on livelihoods persist. This article draws on evidence from research conducted in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea as part of a bigger economic empowerment project to illustrate the vulnerabilities of one community of rural semisubsistence farmers to drought-induced food insecurity. It examines responses to drought, identifies modes of resilience, and discusses the implications for future actions.