Jennifer Marks

Australian Catholic University | ACU

Background: In developed economies, obesity prevalence is high within children from some culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. This study aims to identify whether CALD groups in Victoria, Australia, are at increased risk of childhood overweight and obesity, and obesity-related dietary behaviours; compared to their non-CALD coun...

Issue addressed Schools are a target for childhood obesity prevention strategies, yet intervention effectiveness may be hindered by school community perceptions (staff and students) and readiness to address the problem. We firstly describe students’ perception of their own weight status. Secondly, we describe school staff perceptions and preparedne...

Introduction Prevention of overweight and obesity in childhood is a priority because of associated acute and chronic conditions in childhood and later in life, which place significant burden on health systems. Evidence suggests prevention should engage a range of actions and actors and target multiple levels. The Whole of Systems Trial Of Preventio...

Introduction Studies of community-based obesity prevention interventions have hypothesized that stakeholder networks are a critical element of effective implementation. This paper presents a quantitative analysis of the interpersonal network structures within a sub-sample of stakeholders from two past successful childhood obesity prevention interve...

The potential for peers to influence obesity risk behavior increases in adolescence, yet there are knowledge gaps of how behaviors are modified in response to peers over time. This study examined how personal friendship network characteristics were associated with obesity‐related behaviors from late childhood to early adolescence. Two waves of frie...

Community-based obesity prevention efforts are dependent on the strength and function of collaborative networks across multiple community members and organizations. There is little empirical work on understanding how community network structure influences obesity prevention capacity. We describe network structures within 19 local government communi...

Participation in organized sports is promoted as a means of increasing physical activity levels and reducing chronic disease risk in adults. Hard martial arts practice (i.e. using body contact techniques), has gained in popularity over time. This review explores the evidence for health benefits of “hard” martial arts practice within the adult popul...

Introduction: There is limited understanding of the association between peer social networks and physical activity (PA), sedentary and screen-related behaviors. This study reports on associations between personal network characteristics and these important health behaviors for early adolescents. Methods: Participants were 310 students, aged 11-1...

Introduction: Environments that facilitate energy-dense, nutrient-poor diets are associated with childhood obesity. We examined the effect of a change of school environment on the prevalence of obesity and related dietary behavior in early adolescence. Methods: Fifteen schools in Victoria, Australia, were recruited at random from the bottom 2 st...

Background: There is little empirical evidence of the impact of transition from primary to secondary school on obesity-related risk behaviour. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a change of school system on physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour in pre-early adolescents. Methods: Fifteen schools in Victoria, Australia we...

Introduction: Interest has grown in how systems thinking could be used in obesity prevention. Relationships between key actors, represented by social networks, are an important focus for considering intervention in systems. Method: Two long day care centers were selected in which previous obesity prevention programs had been implemented. Measure...