One purpose of 'identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants' (IDEFICS) is to implement a standardized community-based multi-component healthy eating intervention for younger children in eight different countries. The present study describes important influencing factors for dietary behaviors among children aged 2-8 years old in order to determine the best approaches for developing the dietary components of the standardized intervention. Twenty focus groups with children (74 boys, 81 girls) and 36 focus groups with 189 parents (28 men, 161 women) were conducted. Only in two countries, children mentioned receiving nutrition education at school. Rules at home and at school ranged from not allowing the consumption of unhealthy products to allowing everything. The same diversity was found for availability of (un)healthy products at home and school. Parents mentioned personal (lack of time, financial constraints, preferences), socio-environmental (family, peer influences), institutional (school policies) and physical-environmental (availability of unhealthy products, price, season) barriers for healthy eating. This focus group research provided valuable information to guide the first phase in the IDEFICS intervention development. There was a large variability in findings within countries. Interventions should be tailored at the personal and environmental level to increase the likelihood of behavioral change.
The study was conducted to investigate and compare the attachment styles of maltreated and non-maltreated children through the use of the family drawing technique. The sample consisted of ten maltreated and ten non-maltreated children between the ages of five and 11. The findings revealed that the maltreated children depicted significantly more items in their drawings linked to an insecure attachment pattern than non-maltreated children, while the non-maltreated children made use of significantly more drawing features linked to a secure attachment pattern. These results corresponded to scores on the Child Behaviour Checklist (Achenbach, 1991). All maltreated children scored in the clinical range. The family drawings of maltreated children significantly evidenced a greater distress − represented by an insecure attachment pattern -than the drawings of non-maltreated children represented by a secure attachment style. Copyright
To increase physical activity levels of young children the intervention should aim at creating an environment (physical, institutional, social) supportive of physical activity. On the other hand strategies should take into account personal factors like age and social economical status and should consider personal barriers too.
Background: Diet and physical activity are important factors in the prevention of childhood overweight. This article stresses the importance of effective communication for health behavior. Methods: Transcription, description and analysis of standardized focus group discussions (FGD) in seven European countries using standardized questioning routes. Results: Parents are well informed about health-related topics for children, but seem to have difficulties understanding their role in promoting healthy behavior. They mentioned health-related rules, but our results show limited communication between parents and children, and no follow-up of rules. Consequently, children do not understand rules about good health and do not follow them. Conclusion: Effective and sustainable intervention programs should focus on educational methods and, using parental role modeling, facilitate parents' comprehension of their key role in setting rules and controlling them in order to communicate good health behavior to their children
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