A cluster randomised controlled trial of a school-based physical activity intervention in at-risk communities. This project will test the effect of a professional development program targeting physical education teachers, designed to increase students' opportunities to do physical activity during physical education lessons. It will focus on how to enhance their motivation to not only be physically active during physical education lessons, but also outside school hours.
Selling The Punt: An interdisciplinary analysis of the extent and impact of sports wagering marketing strategies in Australia. Sports wagering is the fastest growing segment of the gambling market in Australia. Despite widespread concern about the impact of marketing strategies on the risky consumption of wagering products by young men and adolescents, research and policy has failed to keep up with this rapidly growing industry. This study will provide: detailed information about the range of ma ....Selling The Punt: An interdisciplinary analysis of the extent and impact of sports wagering marketing strategies in Australia. Sports wagering is the fastest growing segment of the gambling market in Australia. Despite widespread concern about the impact of marketing strategies on the risky consumption of wagering products by young men and adolescents, research and policy has failed to keep up with this rapidly growing industry. This study will provide: detailed information about the range of marketing strategies used to sell sports wagering in Australia; important qualitative insights into the impact of these marketing strategies on gambling behaviours; and, recommendations for a comprehensive public health approach to help counter the potential long and short term risks associated with sports wagering marketing.Read moreRead less
Development and evaluation of morality curriculum intervention for children in Year 7 to reduce uptake of alcohol and tobacco in high school use. This project builds on previous research that supports the notion that a moral stance against alcohol and tobacco use has a protective effect on uptake of these substances. This study aims to develop morality curriculum components on alcohol and tobacco use for children in Year 7, and to determine the effectiveness of these morality components on preve ....Development and evaluation of morality curriculum intervention for children in Year 7 to reduce uptake of alcohol and tobacco in high school use. This project builds on previous research that supports the notion that a moral stance against alcohol and tobacco use has a protective effect on uptake of these substances. This study aims to develop morality curriculum components on alcohol and tobacco use for children in Year 7, and to determine the effectiveness of these morality components on preventing uptake of alcohol and tobacco use in early secondary school (Years 8 and 9). School-based interventions to date have ignored morality issues in their alcohol and tobacco control interventions. The output of this study will be the development of evidence-based morality curriculum components to enhance the effect of existing school-based interventions on alcohol and tobacco use.Read moreRead less
The weighty issue of childhood obesity: an investigation of the role of junk food advertising. Australian children have been getting continuously fatter since the 1970s. The direct health cost implications amount to $830 million annually. Most fat kids also become fat adults, suggesting a future health crisis in Australia. Junk food advertising is extremely heavy during children's television and is thought to contribute greatly to childhood obesity because children are highly susceptible to t ....The weighty issue of childhood obesity: an investigation of the role of junk food advertising. Australian children have been getting continuously fatter since the 1970s. The direct health cost implications amount to $830 million annually. Most fat kids also become fat adults, suggesting a future health crisis in Australia. Junk food advertising is extremely heavy during children's television and is thought to contribute greatly to childhood obesity because children are highly susceptible to the suggestions of ads. The present research will help policy makers decide the most appropriate regulation of food advertising to children, and has the potential to reduce the proportion of Australian kids who are fat, thereby saving billions of dollars in health costs.Read moreRead less
Do perceptions of morality of alcohol, tobacco & cannabis use influence uptake in high school? In Australia, the cost of drug use was estimated at $34.4 billion in 1998-89. Preventing or delaying alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use among adolescents is a way of reducing substance use among adults, and therefore, reduces the health, social and economic costs associated with substance use. This study will assess the protective/vulnerability effect of a range of variables on youth substance use i ....Do perceptions of morality of alcohol, tobacco & cannabis use influence uptake in high school? In Australia, the cost of drug use was estimated at $34.4 billion in 1998-89. Preventing or delaying alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use among adolescents is a way of reducing substance use among adults, and therefore, reduces the health, social and economic costs associated with substance use. This study will assess the protective/vulnerability effect of a range of variables on youth substance use including morality and legitimacy concepts. These data will guide the development of curriculum components to enhance the effect of school-based interventions with respect to substance use, and provide practical recommendations for community interventions targeted at substance use.Read moreRead less
What works best for youth smoking prevention messages? In Australia, tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease, resulting in over 19,000 deaths annually. The morbidity and mortality associated with smoking costs the community over $21 billion a year. People who start smoking when they are young are more likely to smoke heavily as adults, to become more dependent on nicotine and to be at increased risk of smoking-related illness or death. This research study will provi ....What works best for youth smoking prevention messages? In Australia, tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease, resulting in over 19,000 deaths annually. The morbidity and mortality associated with smoking costs the community over $21 billion a year. People who start smoking when they are young are more likely to smoke heavily as adults, to become more dependent on nicotine and to be at increased risk of smoking-related illness or death. This research study will provide practical recommendations for future tobacco control television advertising targeted at youth in terms of the elements featured in tobacco control advertisements that increase advertising effectiveness. Read moreRead less
'Just right' job design: A new model using the Goldilocks paradigm. This proposal will generate new knowledge about designing jobs with the right amount of human movement. Prolonged sitting is now a serious work hazard that contributes to cardiovascular risk and obesity. The high incidence of these conditions in many work systems, such as rail, also presents a critical safety hazard due to threat of sudden incapacity while driving. Expected project outcomes are a ‘Just Right’ Job Design model sh ....'Just right' job design: A new model using the Goldilocks paradigm. This proposal will generate new knowledge about designing jobs with the right amount of human movement. Prolonged sitting is now a serious work hazard that contributes to cardiovascular risk and obesity. The high incidence of these conditions in many work systems, such as rail, also presents a critical safety hazard due to threat of sudden incapacity while driving. Expected project outcomes are a ‘Just Right’ Job Design model showing how tasks can be designed to enhance safety and health while maintaining productivity, and in the unlikeliest of workplaces. This will provide significant benefits for the many working Australians whose safety and health are compromised by exposure to prolonged sitting in seemingly intractable environments.Read moreRead less
Investigating the health benefits of volunteering by seniors. For humanitarian and economic reasons, it is important to promote health-enhancing behaviours among older people to optimise their well-being. Volunteering constitutes one such behaviour. While there is some evidence that older people benefit from volunteering, there is inadequate data for policy development purposes. This project will quantify the physical and mental outcomes of seniors’ engagement in volunteering activities to asses ....Investigating the health benefits of volunteering by seniors. For humanitarian and economic reasons, it is important to promote health-enhancing behaviours among older people to optimise their well-being. Volunteering constitutes one such behaviour. While there is some evidence that older people benefit from volunteering, there is inadequate data for policy development purposes. This project will quantify the physical and mental outcomes of seniors’ engagement in volunteering activities to assess the potential to enhance their health while providing much-needed labour inputs to the Australian economy. The results will also suggest ways to encourage older people to engage in volunteering by identifying effective ways to communicate the benefits to this audience.Read moreRead less
CATCH: Children, Active Travel, Connectedness and Health. This project will explore built and social environmental influences on children's independent mobility, active travel and health. The research will provide necessary evidentiary support to justify government and development industry policy supportive of healthy and child-friendly environments.
Musical investment: assessing and enabling musical participation for well being impact across the lifespan. This project tests a growing belief that by investing in opportunity for musical participation we may develop the capacity to improve individual, family and community well being. The work advances the knowledge base by generating theories and evidence about why we should invest in music-making in order to promote well being across the lifespan. It undertakes systematic investigations to id ....Musical investment: assessing and enabling musical participation for well being impact across the lifespan. This project tests a growing belief that by investing in opportunity for musical participation we may develop the capacity to improve individual, family and community well being. The work advances the knowledge base by generating theories and evidence about why we should invest in music-making in order to promote well being across the lifespan. It undertakes systematic investigations to identify specific variables that promote well being in music activities. It develops best practice guidelines for music practitioners across a range of disciplines using a variety of modalities and offers potential to inform policy development.Read moreRead less