Background: Globally children's diet quality is poor. Parents are primary gatekeepers to children's food intake; however, reaching and engaging parents in nutrition promotion can be challenging. With growth in internet and smartphone use, digital platforms provide potential to disseminate information rapidly to many people. The objectives of this review were to conduct a comprehensive and systematic evaluation of nutrition promotion via websites and apps supporting parents to influence children's nutrition, from three different perspectives: 1) current evidence base, 2) end user (parent) experience and 3) current commercial offerings. Methods: Three systematic reviews were undertaken of (1) studies evaluating the effectiveness for digital platforms for improving nutrition in children and parents, (2) studies conducting user-testing of digital tools with parents, (3) websites and apps providing lunch-provision information to parents. Searches were conducted in five databases for reviews one and two, and systematic search of Google and App Store for review three. Randomised controlled trials, cohort and cross-sectional and qualitative studies (study two only) were included if published in English, from 2013, with the intervention targeted at parents and at least 50% of intervention content focused on nutrition. Search results were double screened, with data extracted into standardised spreadsheets and quality appraisal of included search results. Results: Studies evaluating digital nutrition interventions targeting parents (n = 11) demonstrated effectiveness for improving nutrition outcomes, self-efficacy and knowledge. Six of the included randomised controlled trials reported digital interventions to be equal to, or better than comparison groups. User-testing studies (n = 9) identified that digital platforms should include both informative content and interactive features. Parents wanted evidence-based information from credible sources, practical tools, engaging content and connection with other users and health professionals. Websites targeting lunch provision (n = 15) were developed primarily by credible sources and included information-based content consistent with dietary guidelines and limited interactive features. Lunchbox apps (n = 6), developed mostly by commercial organisations, were more interactive but provided less credible information.(Continued on next page)
Objective: To investigate nutrition literacy among adult grocery buyers regarding energy-related labelling terms on food packaging. Design: Qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys to determine shoppers' understanding of energy terms ('energy', 'calories' and 'kilojoules') and how energy terms affect perceptions of healthiness and intentions to purchase breakfast cereals, muesli bars and frozen meals. Setting: Individual in-depth interviews and surveys in two metropolitan supermarkets, Sydney, Australia. Subjects: Australian adults (interview n 40, survey n 405) aged 18-79 years. Results: The relationship between energy and perceived healthiness of food varied by product type: higher energy breakfast cereals were perceived to be healthier, while lower energy frozen meals were seen as healthier choices. Likewise, intentions to purchase the higher energy product varied according to product type. The primary reason stated for purchasing higher energy products was for sustained energy. Participants from households of lower socio-economic status were significantly more likely to perceive higher energy products as healthier. From the qualitative interviews, participants expressed uncertainty about their understanding of kilojoules, while only 40 % of participants in intercept surveys correctly answered that kilojoules and calories measured the same thing. Conclusions: Australian consumers have a poor understanding of energy and kilojoules and tend to perceive higher energy products as healthier and providing sustained energy. This has implications regarding the usefulness of industry front-ofpack labelling initiatives and quick service restaurant menu labelling that provides information on energy content only. Comprehensive and widely communicated education campaigns will be essential to guide consumers towards healthier choices.
Traits associated with plant tolerance to herbivory are often thought to be those involved in resource acquisition, e.g., root biomass, leaf area, and photosynthetic rate. Plant resistance traits, like concentrations of secondary compounds, can also be negatively associated with tolerance. Few studies have measured both ''tolerance'' and ''resistance'' traits in the same study to determine which are the best predictors of a plant's ability to tolerate insect damage. Here, we measured simultaneously a large suite of traits on damaged and undamaged siblings in 10 families of greenhouse-grown Raphanus raphanistrum plants. Traits measured were: leaf area, root biomass, shoot biomass, photosynthetic rate, trichome density, total glucosinolate concentration, flowering rate, petal size, total number of flowers, and total number of seeds. Pieris rapae larvae were used to damage plants to 50% leaf area removal. Using multiple regression, we examined which traits were the best predictors of tolerance. We considered both male tolerance (relative number of flowers produced by damaged and undamaged sibs) and female tolerance (relative number of seeds produced). We found that, generally, resistance traits were better predictors of both male and female tolerance than tolerance traits. Interestingly, we found that male and female tolerance were not correlated, and that male tolerance was significantly less variable than female tolerance. We also found that measurements of traits postdamage (induced state) were more informative than measurements on undamaged plants (constitutive state). Our results support the idea of a resistance/tolerance trade-off. In addition, our study suggests that there are conflicts in investment in male vs. female fitness after damage.
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