Objective: To estimate the contribution of television (TV) food advertising to the prevalence of obesity among 6-11-year-old children in Australia, Great Britain (England and Scotland only), Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United States. Design: Data from contemporary representative studies on the prevalence of childhood obesity and on TV food advertising exposure in the above countries were entered into a mathematical simulation model. Two different effect estimators were used to calculate the reduction in prevalence of overweight and obesity in the absence of TV food advertising in each country; one based on literature and one based on experts' estimates. Setting: Six-to eleven-year-old children in six Western countries. Results: Estimates of the average exposure of children to TV food advertising range from 1?8 min/d in The Netherlands to 11?5 min/d in the United States. Its contribution to the prevalence of childhood obesity is estimated at 16 %-40 % in the United States, 10 %-28 % in Australia and Italy and 4 %-18 % in Great Britain, Sweden and The Netherlands. Conclusions: The contribution of TV advertising of foods and drinks to the prevalence of childhood obesity differs distinctly by country and is likely to be significant in some countries. KeywordsChild Overweight Obesity Advertising Comparison Childhood overweight and obesity is an increasing public health problem (1)(2)(3) . Often persisting into adulthood, childhood obesity increases the risk of suffering from a range of diseases, including diabetes mellitus and CVD, which can lead to poor quality of life and a shortened lifespan (3)(4)(5) . Overweight among children is related to many factors at the individual, family and environmental levels.Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown a positive association between time spent watching television (TV) and an increase in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity (6)(7)(8)(9) ; whereas the results of published studies indicate a positive relationship between TV viewing and overweight (10)(11)(12) , mechanisms driving this are not clear. Two primary mechanisms by which TV viewing contributes to weight gain in children have been suggested: reduced physical activity or increased energy intake or a combination of both. Weak-to-modest inverse associations between TV viewing and physical activity have been found (9,13) . There is also evidence that at least part of the relationship between TV viewing and overweight in children can be linked to energy intake; that is, TV watching is associated with an increase in consumption of fast food and energy-dense snacks (6,7,12) . The present study focuses on the latter mechanism and will explore the potential effect of TV food advertising on childhood obesity.There is substantial evidence that exposure to TV food advertising significantly influences children's food preferences, choices, purchase requests and food intake, but the strength of the evidence decreases with the length of the putative causal chain from advertising to obesi...

With a large and increasing culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) population, the Australian health care system faces challenges in the provision of accessible culturally competent health care. Communities at higher risk of chronic disease include CALD communities. Overseas, multicultural health workers (MHWs) have been increasingly integrated in the delivery of culturally relevant primary health care to CALD communities. The objective of this systematic review was to examine the effectiveness of MHW interventions in chronic disease prevention and self-management in CALD populations with the aim to inform policy development of effective health care in CALD communities in Australia. A systematic review protocol was developed and computerised searches were conducted of multiple electronic databases from 1 January 1995 until 1 November 2010. Thirty-nine studies were identified including 31 randomised controlled trials. Many of the studies focussed on poor and underserved ethnic minorities. Several studies reported significant improvements in participants' chronic disease prevention and self-management outcomes and meta-analyses identified a positive trend associated with MHW intervention. Australian Government policies express the need for targeted inventions for CALD communities. The broader systemic application of MHWs in Australian primary health care may provide one of the most useful targeted interventions for CALD communities.

Iodine deficiency is the single most common cause of preventable mental impairment in communities with suboptimal iodine intake. Objective of the present study was to assess in more detail the iodine status and knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) relating to use of iodised salt in a remote community in Kotidanga area, Kerema district, Gulf province, Papua New Guinea. This prospective school and community based cross-sectional study was carried out in 2017. Simple random sampling was used to select schools. Multistage sampling was used to randomly select 300 children aged 6 to 12 years, of which 289 consented to participate in the study. A single urine sample was collected from each of the consenting children, as well as a salt sample from their households. Discretionary salt intake was assessed in a sub-sample of the children’s households. Salt iodine content and urinary iodine concentration (UIC) were analysed. A semi-structured modified Food and Agriculture Organisation questionnaire was used to assess KAP of three different community groups. Only 64% of households had salt on the day of data collection. Mean iodine content in household salt samples was 29.0 ± 19.1 ppm. Iodine content was below 30.0 ppm in 54.8% and below 15.0 ppm in 31.2% of salt samples. Mean per capita discretionary intake of household salt was 2.9 ± 1.8 g/day. Median UIC was 25.5 μg/L and Interquartile Range was 15.0 to 47.5 μg/L, indicating moderate status iodine nutrition. Median UIC was 34.3 μg/L for children in households with salt, compared to 15.5 μg/L for children in households without salt, indicating severe iodine deficiency in the latter group. The three community groups had limited knowledge about importance of using iodised salt and consequences of iodine deficiency on health outcomes. This remote community has limited access to adequately iodised household salt due to high cost, inappropriate packaging, storage and food preparation, resulting in iodine deficiency. Strategies to increase iodine intake are needed.