Active school transport (AST) has declined rapidly in recent decades. While many studies have examined walking, cycling to school has received very little attention. Correlates of cycling are likely to differ to those from walking and cycling enables AST from further distances. This study examined individual, social and environmental factors associated with cycling to school among elementary school-aged children, stratified by gender.

Dietary assessment methods that can provide high quality data while limiting participant burden and resource requirements in epidemiological research are highly sought after and continue to evolve. The use of mobile phone technology in research has increased rapidly over the last decade and offers multiple advantages to the researcher over traditional data collection methods. This study tested the acceptability and relative validity of a commercial smart phone application (app) for use as an epidemiological dietary assessment tool, compared with a traditional dietary assessment method. Study participants completed a 4-d food diary using a modified version of the Easy Diet Diary app and two 24-h dietary recalls during the same week, for comparison. At the end of data collection, participants completed a questionnaire on their experience with both methods. Average proportions of energy from macronutrients and fibre, iron, and calcium densities from the app and 24-h recalls were compared after log transformation, by calculating mean agreement, limits of agreement (LOA), and Pearson’s correlations. The prevalence of dietary under-reporting was compared in each method using the Goldberg method. A total of 50 adults (82% women) provided data for analysis (mean age, 31 y; mean BMI, 22.4 kg/m2; 14% overweight or obese). Participant feedback showed high levels of acceptance of the app; 83% preferred using the app to completing 24-h dietary recalls. The average difference in energy intake (mean agreement) between methods was 268 kJ/d. For all intakes except alcohol, the average difference between methods was not significantly different from zero. Most limits of agreement were within an acceptable range. The prevalence of dietary misreporting was similar in both methods. These findings demonstrate good feasibility for applying this commercially-developed smartphone app in epidemiological research.

Background. Efforts to increase the prevalence of children’s active school transport require evidence to inform the development of comprehensive interventions. This study used a multilevel ecological framework to investigate individual, social, and environmental factors associated with walking to and from school among elementary school-aged children, stratified by gender. Method. Boys aged 10 to 13 years (n = 617) and girls aged 9 to 13 years (n = 681) attending 25 Australian primary schools located in high or low walkable neighborhoods completed a 1-week travel diary and a parent/child questionnaire on travel habits and attitudes. Results. Boys were more likely (odds ratio [OR] = 3.37; p < .05) to walk if their school neighborhood had high connectivity and low traffic and less likely to walk if they had to cross a busy road (OR = 0.49; p < .05). For girls, confidence in their ability to walk to or from school without an adult (OR = 2.03), school encouragement (OR = 2.43), scheduling commitments (OR = 0.41), and parent-perceived convenience of driving (OR = 0.24) were significantly associated (p < .05) with walking. Irrespective of gender and proximity to school, child-perceived convenience of walking (boys OR = 2.17 and girls OR = 1.84) and preference to walk to school (child perceived, boys OR = 5.57, girls OR = 1.84 and parent perceived, boys OR = 2.82, girls OR = 1.90) were consistently associated (p < .05) with walking to and from school. Conclusion. Although there are gender differences in factors influencing children walking to and from school, proximity to school, the safety of the route, and family time constraints are consistent correlates. These need to be addressed if more children are to be encouraged to walk to and from school.

The relationships between food environments and dietary intake have been assessed via a range of methodologically diverse measures of spatial exposure to food outlets, resulting in a largely inconclusive body of evidence, limiting informed policy intervention. This systematic review aims to evaluate the influence of methodological choice on study outcomes by examining the within-study effect of availability (e.g., counts) versus accessibility (e.g., proximity) spatial exposure measures on associations with diet. (PROSPERO registration: CRD42018085250). PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and ScienceDirect databases were searched for empirical studies from 1980 to 2017, in the English language, involving adults and reporting on the statistical association between a dietary outcome and spatial exposure measures of both availability and accessibility. Studies were appraised using an eight-point quality criteria with a narrative synthesis of results. A total of 205 associations and 44 relationships (i.e., multiple measures of spatial exposure relating to a particular food outlet type and dietary outcome) were extracted from 14 eligible articles. Comparative measures were dominated by counts (availability) and proximity (accessibility). Few studies compared more complex measures and all counts were derived from place-based measures of exposure. Sixteen of the 44 relationships had a significant effect involving an availability measure whilst only 8 had a significant effect from an accessibility measure. The largest effect sizes in relationships were mostly for availability measures. After stratification by scale, availability measure had the greatest effect size in 139 of the 176 pairwise comparisons. Of the 33% (68/205) of associations that reached significance, 53/68 (78%) were from availability measures. There was no relationship between study quality and reported study outcomes. The limited evidence suggests that availability measures may produce significant and greater effect sizes than accessibility measures. However, both availability and accessibility measures may be important concepts of spatial exposure depending on the food outlet type and dietary outcome examined. More studies reporting on multi-method effects are required to differentiate findings by the type of spatial exposure assessment and build an evidence base regarding the appropriateness and robustness of measures under different circumstances.

Supermarkets have unprecedented political and economic power in the food system and an inherent responsibility to demonstrate good corporate citizenship via corporate social responsibility (CSR). The aim of this study was to investigate the world’s largest and most powerful supermarkets’ publically available CSR commitments to determine their potential impact on public health. The world’s largest 100 retailers were identified using the Global Powers of Retailing report. Thirty-one supermarkets that published corporate reports referring to CSR or sustainability, in English, between 2013 and 2018, were included and thematically analysed. Although a large number of themes were identified (n = 79), and there were differences between each business, supermarket CSR commitments focused on five priorities: donating surplus food to charities for redistribution to feed the hungry; reducing and recovering food waste; sustainably sourcing specific ingredients including seafood, palm oil, soy and cocoa; governance of food safety; and growing the number of own brand foods available, that are made by suppliers to meet supermarkets’ requirements. CSR commitments made by 31 of the world’s largest supermarkets showed they appeared willing to take steps to improve sustainable sourcing of specific ingredients, but there was little action being taken to support health and nutrition. Although some supermarket CSR initiatives showed promise, the world’s largest supermarkets could do more to use their power to support public health. It is recommended they should: (1) transparently report food waste encompassing the whole of the food system in their waste reduction efforts; (2) support healthful and sustainable diets by reducing production and consumption of discretionary foods, meat, and other ingredients with high social and environmental impacts; (3) remove unhealthful confectionery, snacks, and sweetened beverages from prominent in-store locations; (4) ensure a variety of minimally processed nutritious foods are widely available; and (5) introduce initiatives to make healthful foods more affordable, support consumers to select healthful and sustainable foods, and report healthful food sales as a proportion of total food sales, using transparent criteria for key terms.

Results from studies examining associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations and depressive symptoms are equivocal. We investigated the relationship between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress in a cross-sectional analysis of a population-based sample of young adults participating in the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. Participants provided a blood sample at the 20-year follow-up (March 2010-April 2012) for the measurement of serum 25(OH)D concentrations. Mental health symptoms were assessed using the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). Associations between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and total DASS-21 scores and subscale scores of depression, anxiety and stress were explored in males and females using negative binomial regression, adjusting for age, race, body mass index (BMI) and physical activity (n=735). Models examining subscale scores were also adjusted for the other subscale scores. After adjusting for confounders, an increase in serum 25(OH)D concentrations of 10 nmol/L decreased total DASS-21 scores in males by 9% (rate ratio (RR) 0.91; 95%CI 0.87,0.95; p<0.001) and depression subscale scores in males by 8% (RR 0.92; 95%CI 0.87,0.96; p=0.001). However, in adjusted models there were no significant associations between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and symptoms of anxiety and stress in males. There were no significant associations between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress in females. We found an association between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and symptoms of depression, but not anxiety and stress, in males. Randomised controlled trials are necessary to determine any benefit of vitamin D supplementation in the prevention and treatment of depressive symptoms in young adults.