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Research

Beaches are important settings for physical activity, with their quality (safety, amenities, aesthetics) influencing how well they support health. The quality of beaches may differ across neighbourhoods, with higher socioeconomic status neighbourhoods having disproportionately better access to beaches. This study examined the attributes of and activities taking place in beaches by neighbourhood socioeconomic status.

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Knowledge of developmental trends in meeting age-specific 24-hour movement behaviour guidelines is lacking. This study describes developmental trends in device-measured physical activity and sedentary time over a three-year period among Western Australian children aged two to seven years, including differences between boys and girls.

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Limited research exists on the pathways through which physical activity influences cognitive development in the early years. This study examined the direct and indirect relationships between physical activity, self-regulation, and cognitive school readiness in preschool children.

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To test the internal validity of the test-negative design (TND) by investigating associations between maternal influenza vaccination, and new virus detection episodes (VDEs), acute respiratory illness, and healthcare visits in their children.

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Food Sensations for Adults, funded by the Western Australian Department of Health, is a four-week nutrition education program focused on food literacy, with demonstrated success amongst Western Australians. In the last two years, 25% of programs have been in regional and remote areas and therefore the aim of this research is to explore the impact of the program in regional areas.

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Physical activity is crucial for young children's health and development. Many young children do not meet the recommended 3 hours of daily physical activity, including 60 min of energetic play. Early childhood education and care (ECEC/childcare) is a key setting to intervene to improve children's physical activity. The Play Active programme is a scalable evidence-informed ECEC-specific physical activity policy intervention with implementation support strategies to improve educators' physical activity-related practices.

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Hayley Christian BSc (1st Class Hons), PhD (Distinction) W.Aust. Head, Child Physical Activity, Health and Development; Ascend Senior Research Fellow

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Hayley Karen Christian Lombardi BSc (1st Class Hons), PhD (Distinction) W.Aust. BHSc (Hons), PhD Head, Child Physical Activity, Health and

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The BEACHES project aims to provide high quality evidence of aspects of the built environment which can be modified to reduce the negative impact on children’s physical activity, eating behaviours and weight status.

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Overweight and obesity in children continues to increase. Yet, the role of active transport, namely walking, in mitigating these trends remains unclear. This study examined the cross-sectional association between walkability and children's Body Mass Index (BMI) and how this varies by socio-economic and lifestyle characteristics.