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Research

To determine the impact of a family-based assessment-and-intervention healthy lifestyle programme on health knowledge and beliefs of children and families affected by obesity. Second, to compare the health knowledge of the programme cohort to those of a national cohort in Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ).

Research

Maternal psychological distress is related to poorer physical and mental health as well as child developmental problems. Interventions that optimise maternal mental health and wellbeing during the "first 1,000 days" of life should have wide-reaching benefits for the mother and her child.

Research

In Western Australia (WA), children aged 24 months living regionally or remotely (non-urban) have suboptimal vaccine uptake. As there has not yet been a systematic approach to understanding the facilitators and barriers to childhood vaccination in regional and remote WA, this study aimed to understand the views of key immunisation stakeholders regarding barriers and solutions.

Research

Heat-inactivated probiotics (HPs) may provide an effective alternative to live probiotics by avoiding their risks (eg, probiotic sepsis) while retaining the benefits. We assessed the safety and efficacy of a HP in very preterm (VP: gestation <32 weeks) infants.  

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Brain development during the preschool period is complex and extensive and underlies ongoing behavioral and cognitive maturation. Increasing understanding of typical brain maturation during this time is critical to early identification of atypical development and could inform treatments and interventions.

Research

Growing up in socioeconomic disadvantage increases risk of peer bullying at school. Both socioeconomic status and involvement in bullying are predictive of a range of adverse developmental outcomes. However, neither (a) the mechanisms whereby disadvantage increases bullying risk nor (b) the developmental outcomes for which bullying may mediate disadvantage are clear. 

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Alcohol consumption in pregnancy can affect genome regulation in the developing offspring but results have been contradictory. We employed a physiologically relevant murine model of short-term moderate prenatal alcohol exposure resembling common patterns of alcohol consumption in pregnancy in humans. 

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A mother's diet during pregnancy may influence her infant's immune development. However, as potential interactions between components of our dietary intakes can make any nutritional analysis complex, here we took a multi-component dietary analysis approach.

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We know relatively little about the role the neighbourhood built environment plays in promoting young children's physical activity, particularly its longitudinal effect either through repeated exposure to the same environment or through change in exposure by moving from one neighbourhood to another.

Research

The earliest respiratory function assessments, within or close to the neonatal period, consistently show correlations with lung function and with the development of asthma into adulthood. Measurements of lung function in infancy reflect the in utero period of lung development, and if early enough, show little influence of postnatal environmental exposures.