The study shows that both encouraging and controlling feeding styles may improve children's dietary behaviour, while 'instrumental feeding' may have a detrimental effect. Furthermore, maternal educational level and children's ethnicity influence these associations. The study's findings could provide a basis for development of interventions to improve parental feeding styles.

Background Healthy sleep duration is essential to health and well-being in childhood and later life. Unfortunately, recent evidence shows a decline in sleep duration among children. Although effective interventions promoting healthy sleep duration require insight into its predictors, data on these factors are scarce. This study therefore investigated (i) which individual (lifestyle), social and cultural factors, and living conditions and (ii) which changes in these factors might be associated with the changes in sleep duration of Dutch primary schoolchildren observed over time. Method Data from the ChecKid study was used, a dynamic cohort study among 4-13-year-old children living in the city of Zwolle, the Netherlands. Associations between changes in sleep duration and individual (lifestyle) factors (i.e., age, sex, physical activity behavior, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, screen behavior), social and cultural factors (i.e., parental rules, ethnicity), and living conditions (i.e., parental education, presence of screens in the bedroom, household size) were analyzed using multivariable linear regression. Results A total of 1180 children participated, aged 6.6 ± 1.4 years in 2009. Mean sleep duration decreased from 11.4 ± 0.5 h/night in 2009 to 11.0 ± 0.5 h/night in 2012. Older children, boys, children who used screens after dinner, children with greater computer/game console use, and children whose parents had low levels of education had a greater decrease in sleep duration. Conclusions This article reports on one of the first large, longitudinal cohort studies on predictors of child sleep duration. The results of the study can inform future interventions aimed at promoting healthy sleep in primary schoolchildren.

There is a growing recognition that research and implementation projects should be carried out "with" or "by" young people with chronic conditions, instead of "about" or "for" them. The current study aimed to explore how young people with chronic conditions experience their involvement in a participatory youth panel. This panel was a structural part of a three-year program addressing the social position of young people with chronic conditions in the Netherlands. It hosted 45 research and implementation projects to improve the social position of young people with chronic conditions in five areas: care, school, work, sport, and personal strength. Output from these projects were, for example, a tool to improve self-management, an evidence-based method to facilitate the transition to adult-care, and a digital platform about performing physical activity with a disability. During the program, six focus groups consisting of four to eleven panel members were conducted. The transcripts were analysed using the principles of thematic analysis. The results show panel members took part in multiple projects and activities, such as assessing project applications, evaluating the progress of projects and organizing a political lobby. They were enthusiastic about their role in the panel. The structural nature of the panel enabledthem to achieve personal growth and professionalization of their participation. Consequently, panel members experienced an increasing impact on the program and separate projects, and on national politics. Therefore, it is suggested that a structural form of participation, such as a participatory panel, is suitable to facilitate meaningful participation of young people with chronic conditions.