Chris Rissel

The University of Sydney · School of Public Health

Background Effects of attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) on health behaviours of young children remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether ECEC attendance was associated with outdoor play, screen time, sleep duration and family demographics of children aged 2 and 3 years. Methods Secondary analysis was conducted using...

Background The effectiveness of the NSW Health “Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service®”(Get Healthy) to facilitate weight loss on a population scale has been documented, but this was based on self-reported measures. Our study aims to test the effectiveness of the Get Healthy Service on objectively measured weight, BMI, waist circumference, a...

Establishing healthy feeding habits during infancy is crucial for optimal growth. However, certain parental feeding and cultural practices might hinder the development of children's healthy eating behaviours. This research explored responsive feeding practices among migrant mothers in Australia. Semi‐structured telephone interviews were conducted i...

University students, working with First Nations communities, need to build skills in culturally responsive practice. This study explores the experience of allied health students completing service-learning placements in First Nations communities. A qualitative post-placement study was undertaken. Semi-structured interviews were completed with allie...

Background Over the past two decades, there has been an increase of immigrants in Australia. Despite this, the availability of culturally responsive resources and services that cater to their needs remains insufficient. Objective The aim of this study was to explore the resources used and trusted by Mongolian- and Arabic-speaking migrant mothers i...

BACKGROUND The transition to motherhood is a pivotal time for promoting healthy behaviours, particularly among indigenous women, who encounter significant barriers to accessing health information. Mobile health interventions (mHealth) promoting healthy lifestyle changes, offer an adaptable and inexpensive method for improving access health informat...

Objectives To evaluate the effect of a coaching intervention compared with control on physical activity and falls rate at 12 months in community-dwelling people aged 60+ years. Design Cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting Community-dwelling older people. Participants 72 clusters (605 participants): 37 clusters (290 participants) randomise...

Issues Addressed Evidence on how COVID‐19 lockdowns impacted physical activity (PA) is mixed. This study explores changes in PA following initial mobility restrictions, and their subsequent relaxation, in a sample of Sydney (Australia) residents using a natural experiment methodology. Methods Participants' health and travel behaviours were collect...

Objective to examine the measurement properties of instruments that have been used to measure aspects of psychological capacity in adults aged 60 years and over. Methods the databases PsycINFO, MEDLINE, EMCARE and Scopus from 2010 were searched using search terms related to psychological capacity, older persons and measurement properties. Both dat...

Objective This scoping review will describe strategies to support communication between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and health professionals about medicines. Introduction Poor communication is a well-established risk factor contributing to adverse medicine events. Communication challenges are exacerbated for Aboriginal and Torres...

Background: Parents' play a proactive role in seeking health information to ensure optimal growth and development for their children. To date, very little is known about the differences between information seeking behaviour for child health and engagement with resources between culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and non-CALD parents. Ob...

Background/objectives Few quality intervention studies have assessed whether a combined telephone and short message service (SMS) intervention to mothers is effective in reducing BMI and obesity risk behaviors of children at 3 years of age. This study aimed to assess effectiveness of telephone and SMS support in reducing children’s body mass index...

Aim To explore the implementation of a whole-of-government strategy as a policy tool for the early prevention of childhood obesity in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Subject and methods This paper presents a case study of childhood obesity prevention in the context of implementing the NSW Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) Strategy. We unde...

Background: Evidence of effective early childhood obesity prevention is scarce and mainly derived from face-to-face interventions. However, the COVID-19 pandemic drastically reduced face-to-face health programmes globally. This study assessed effectiveness of a telephone-based intervention in reducing obesity risk of young children. Methods: We...

Objective: To assess the observed pain behaviours of Aboriginal residents with cognitive impairment in aged care facilities and compare these results with a matched national sample of non-Aboriginal residents. Methods: Observed pain behaviours of Aboriginal residents (N = 87) with cognitive impairment in aged care facilities across the Northern...

Working from home (WfH) has public health implications including changes to physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB). We reviewed published and grey literature for interventions designed to support PA or reduce SB in WfH contexts. From 1355 published and grey literature documents since 2010, we screened 136 eligible documents and extracte...

We conducted a systematic review to evaluate combinations of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep duration and their associations with physical, psychological and educational outcomes in children and adolescents. MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, SPORTDiscus, PubMed, EMBASE, and ERIC were searched in June 2020. Included studies needed to 1) q...

Correction modelling using reported BMI values has been employed in adolescent and adult populations to improve the accuracy of self-reporting. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of establishing correction modelling for mother-reported child height and weight at 2 years using data from an Australian trial in 2019. Correction modelling for...

Aim Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) is the main tertiary hospital that has performed more than 600 biopsies since its establishment. Although Indigenous people in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) has the highest rate of renal replacement therapy, the histopathology pattern of their renal diseases is still under discussed. We aimed to analyse the his...

Background Evidence shows that promoting physical activity among older people without providing fall prevention advice may increase fall rates. The Coaching for Healthy AGEing (CHAnGE) trial measured the effect of a physical activity and fall prevention program on physical activity and falls among community-dwelling people aged 60+. Design Cluster...

Introduction: Cultural immersion can be an effective method of health professional student cultural learning, and part of interprofessional learning. This evaluation aimed to report the views of staff and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contributors about a cultural immersion program, as well as the student perspective. Methods: Semi-struc...

Objective A practice change intervention demonstrated improvements in the provision of antenatal care addressing alcohol consumption. The aim of this study was to explore whether the effectiveness of the intervention differed between subgroups of pregnant women and types and location of maternity services. Design and Setting Post-hoc exploratory s...

Objective: This study aimed to conduct an economic evaluation of the Communicating Healthy Beginnings Advice by Telephone (CHAT) trial to prevent childhood obesity. Methods: Cost-effectiveness analyses were conducted for the telephone and short message service (SMS) delivery of Healthy Beginnings advice, compared with usual care, which included...

Background The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a practice change intervention to support the implementation of guideline-recommended care for addressing alcohol use in pregnancy on self-reported alcohol use during pregnancy. Methods A randomized, stepped-wedge controlled trial in three clusters (sectors) within the Hunter New Englan...

Background The prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is higher among Indigenous Australians than that of non-Indigenous Australians. However, no studies have investigated COPD disease awareness and knowledge among Indigenous Australians. In this study, we assessed the COPD disease awareness among Indigenous and non-Indigenous p...

Background Correction modelling using reported BMI values has been employed in adolescent and adult populations to improve the accuracy of self-reporting. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of establishing correction modelling for mother-reported child height and weight at 2 years using data from an Australian trial in 2019. M...

Background Correction modelling using reported BMI values has been employed in adolescent and adult populations to improve the accuracy of self-reporting. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of establishing correction modelling for mother-reported child height and weight at 2 years using data from an Australian trial in 2019. M...

Most Central Australian health service users are Aboriginal peoples. It is important that health professionals have cultural awareness related to the specific Aboriginal peoples they are working with and how cultural norms might impact upon their healthcare. This process evaluation reports how participants perceived the relevance of the Alice Sprin...

Background: Cultural competency is often promoted as a strategy to address health inequities; however, there is little evidence linking cultural competency with improved patient outcomes. This article describes the characteristics of recent educational interventions designed to improve cultural competency in healthcare workers for First Nations pe...

Background The international increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity has hastened in recent decades. This rise has coincided with the emergence of comorbidities in childhood—such as type II diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnoea and hypertension—formerly only described in adulthood. This phenomenon sug...

Background and Objectives Having a COVID-19 vaccination, getting tested, and self-isolating if symptomatic are some of the most important mitigation strategies for preventing the spread of COVID-19. This study aimed to investigate whether demographic factors are associated with mothers' willingness to vaccinate their 4-year-old children against COV...

Healthy eating and active living interventions targeting parents of young children could have benefits for both children and parents. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of two remotely delivered healthy eating and active living interventions delivered at scale to parents, in increasing parent vegetable and fruit consumption (pre-...

Background Participant engagement with program interventions is vital to support intended behaviour changes and outcomes. The aim of this research was to investigate participant engagement with the Communicating Healthy Beginnings Advice by Telephone (CHAT) program, an early childhood obesity prevention program that included interventions for promo...

Objectives The Brief Health Check (BHC) is a health screener used by the Get Healthy at Work programme, which identifies workers with chronic disease risk and provides them with advice and referrals to support services. The BHC was revised to include mental health to provide a holistic approach to workplace health. This study aimed to evaluate the...

Background Early childhood (from conception to five years) is a key life stage for interventions to prevent obesity. In the Australian Federation, policy responsibility for obesity prevention sits across all levels of government and several intergovernmental institutions, rendering a complicated policy space. There is a gap in our understanding of...

Aims The burden and health costs of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus continue to increase globally and prevention strategies in at-risk people need to be explored. Previous work, in both animal models and humans, supports the role of zinc in improving glucose homeostasis. We, therefore, aimed to test the effectiveness of zinc supplementation on glycaemic c...

Abstract Background Clinical guideline recommendations for addressing alcohol consumption during pregnancy are sub-optimally implemented and limited evidence exists to inform practice improvements. The aim of this study was to estimate the effectiveness of a practice change intervention in improving the provision of antenatal care addressing alcoho...

BACKGROUND As of 2021, 89% of the Australian population are active internet users. Although the internet is widely used, there are concerns about the quality, accuracy, and credibility of health-related websites. A 2015 systematic assessment of infant feeding websites and apps available in Australia found that 61% of websites were of poor quality a...

Background As of 2021, 89% of the Australian population are active internet users. Although the internet is widely used, there are concerns about the quality, accuracy, and credibility of health-related websites. A 2015 systematic assessment of infant feeding websites and apps available in Australia found that 61% of websites were of poor quality a...

Background Although early childhood obesity prevention has become an important issue internationally, little evidence exists regarding longer term effects (i.e., sustainability) of early interventions. Objective To determine whether intervention benefits at 2 years of age were sustained at 3.5 and 5 years. Methods Follow‐up of the Early Preventio...

The Australian Study of Health and Relationships is a large national population-representative survey of sexual behavior and attitudes conducted every decade. We describe experiences of sexual difficulties lasting at least a month among Australians surveyed in 2012-2013 and identify changes since the previous survey in 2001-2002. Computer-assisted...

Background Air pollution is a major health burden and the leading environmental risk factor for non-communicable diseases worldwide. People's perceptions and concerns about air pollution are important as they may predict protective behaviour or support for climate change mitigation policies. Methods This repeat cross-sectional study uses survey da...

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the perspectives of experienced Australian Remote Area Nurses about remote nursing staff retention strategies. Background: There is low retention of Remote Area Nurses in remote Australia. Retention of Remote Area Nurses can be improved by a supportive environment including good management, professional...

Introduction Little is known about how early (eg, commencing antenatally or in the first 12 months after birth) obesity prevention interventions seek to change behaviour and which components are or are not effective. This study aims to (1) characterise early obesity prevention interventions in terms of target behaviours, delivery features and behav...

Introduction: Behavioural interventions in early life appear to show some effect in reducing childhood overweight and obesity. However, uncertainty remains regarding their overall effectiveness, and whether effectiveness differs among key subgroups. These evidence gaps have prompted an increase in very early childhood obesity prevention trials wor...

BACKGROUND Parents are the primary decision makers of the foods prepared and offered to children. There is a strong association between parent and child fruit and vegetable intakes. Healthy eating and active living interventions targeting parents of young children could have benefits for both children and parents, however there is currently limited...

The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate the impact of a Central Australian cultural awareness training program for health care staff. A mixed methods approach was used. Program participants completed a baseline and post-program questionnaire, which included an attitude scale assessing cultural safety, critical thinking and transformativ...

Issue addressed Understanding community support for obesity prevention policy is important for developing effective preventive health action. This study assessed support for a range of obesity prevention interventions, including food environment policies designed to improve healthy food and drink availability and promotion within public institution...

Background Few translational trials have provided detailed reports of process evaluation results. Objective This study reported on findings from a mixed methods process evaluation of a large translational trial comparing 2 remotely delivered healthy eating and active living interventions with an active control, targeting parents of young children....

BACKGROUND Few translational trials have provided detailed reports of process evaluation results. OBJECTIVE This study reported on findings from a mixed methods process evaluation of a large translational trial comparing 2 remotely delivered healthy eating and active living interventions with an active control, targeting parents of young children....

Interventions for obesity prevention can effectively reduce obesity-related behaviors in young children. Understanding how to leverage and adapt evidence-based interventions is needed to improve reach among culturally and linguistically diverse families. This systematic review aimed to synthesize the approaches and outcomes of culturally adapted ea...

Issue addressed One in four Australian children aged between the ages of two and four are affected by overweight. In New South Wales, the Communicating Healthy Beginnings Advice by Telephone trial delivered an intervention to pregnant women and women with infants via telephone calls and text messages. The focus of the intervention was on infant fee...

Objectives Assess the impact of an implementation intervention on student's physical activity, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and on-task behaviour. Design A cluster-randomised controlled trial. Method Following baseline 61 schools were randomised to a 12-month, implementation intervention to increase teacher scheduling of physical activi...

Background Few randomized controlled trial (RCT) interventions targeted children's early risk behaviours using telephone or short message service (SMS) support. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of telephone or SMS early intervention focusing on mothers' behaviours starting from late pregnancy to improve BMI, and eating and screen time behav...

Objective: To identify the optimal AUSDRISK threshold score to screen for pre-diabetes and diabetes. Methods: A total of 406 adult patients not diagnosed with diabetes were screened in General Practices (GP) between May and October 2019. All patients received a point of care (POC) HbA1c test. HbA1c test results were categorised into diabetes (≥6.5%...

Background This statistical analysis plan details the Coaching for Healthy AGEing (CHAnGE) trial analysis methodology. Objective To investigate the effect of a combined physical activity and fall prevention program on physical activity and falls compared to a healthy eating among people aged 60 years and over. Methods The CHAnGE trial is a pragma...

Objectives This study aimed to investigate perceived impacts, ways of communication with professionals and information sources related to COVID-19, and explore whether these impacts or information sources were associated with ethnicity that is, language spoken at home. Design A cross-sectional study. Setting Sydney, Australia during the period fr...

Introduction: Healthy Beginnings is an established nurse-led early childhood obesity prevention program that promotes healthy infant feeding practices and active play in the early years of life. To improve engagement with culturally and linguistically diverse populations, the Healthy Beginnings program delivered by telephone was culturally adapted...

Background Weight gain during pregnancy that is outside of recommended levels is associated with a range of adverse outcomes for the mother and child, including gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, and obesity. Internationally, 60–80% of pregnant women report gaining weight outside of recommended levels. While guideline recommendatio...

The role of infant feeding practices in longitudinal growth trajectories in children remains equivocal. This study utilised two longitudinal approaches to examine the associations of infant feeding mode (breastfeeding, mixed feeding, formula feeding), breastfeeding duration, and the timing of solid foods introduction with body mass index (BMI) z-sc...

The need to improve the practice and quality of evaluation in the health promotion and disease prevention field is widely recognized. In order to plan, implement and evaluate health promotion evaluation capacity building efforts, there is a need to better understand the practitioner, organisational and system-level determinants of evaluation capaci...