Alison C. Spence
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View article: How do nutrition interventions targeting parents with young children address parental food literacy? A systematic review
How do nutrition interventions targeting parents with young children address parental food literacy? A systematic review Open
A broad range of community and public health nutrition interventions exist to improve family diet quality. They vary in the approaches taken to address the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to enhance diet quality, also known as fo…
View article: From policy to plate: stakeholder perspectives on nutrition policy in Australian early childhood education environments
From policy to plate: stakeholder perspectives on nutrition policy in Australian early childhood education environments Open
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings are pivotal in shaping children's dietary behaviours. While the importance of centre-based nutrition policies (CBNPs) in shaping early childhood nutrition environments is well established,…
View article: Can Australian meal kits support food literacy and healthy family meal provisioning? A qualitative study
Can Australian meal kits support food literacy and healthy family meal provisioning? A qualitative study Open
Cooking at home is a key recommendation to improve family nutrition. However, parents of young children face barriers to preparing healthy meals. Commercial meal kit subscription services (MKSSs) may support parents to overcome challenges …
View article: The prospective associations between parental feeding practices and fruit & vegetable consumption in young children aged 1–6 years: A systematic review
The prospective associations between parental feeding practices and fruit & vegetable consumption in young children aged 1–6 years: A systematic review Open
Previous research suggests parental feeding practices potentially influence young children's consumption of fruits and vegetables. Most of this research is cross-sectional, with few studies exploring the longer-term associations. Therefore…
View article: Associations between pre-school children’s eating behaviour traits and dietary quality, and the potential moderation of age on these associations
Associations between pre-school children’s eating behaviour traits and dietary quality, and the potential moderation of age on these associations Open
Pre-school children’s dietary intake in Australia is substandard, with only 18% of children aged 2–3 years meeting the recommended intake for vegetables, and more than one-third of their daily kilojoules coming from energy-dense, nutrient-…
View article: Testing an audit tool to measure food served and wasted in early childhood education settings
Testing an audit tool to measure food served and wasted in early childhood education settings Open
Children attending Early Childhood Education and Care settings (ECEC) receive half of their daily nutritional needs from these services (1,2) . Issues such as poor menu quality and high food waste in ECEC have been documented (3) , which h…
View article: Exposing young children to plant-based protein in early childhood education settings—a missed opportunity
Exposing young children to plant-based protein in early childhood education settings—a missed opportunity Open
Food is a key lever for human and planetary health (1) . Shifting to more plant-based foods supports environmentally sustainable, healthy and affordable diets (1) . Taste preferences are formed in early childhood (2) , presenting an opport…
View article: Comparing Australian children’s dietary intakes with the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet targets and Australian dietary guidelines
Comparing Australian children’s dietary intakes with the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet targets and Australian dietary guidelines Open
Heathy eating recommendations are shifting to incorporate environmentally sustainable eating principles. It is crucial to understand whether children’s dietary intakes align with global sustainable diet recommendations such as the EAT-Lanc…
View article: Parental Food Provisioning Behaviours and Perceptions in Relation to Environmentally Sustainable Diets for Young Children
Parental Food Provisioning Behaviours and Perceptions in Relation to Environmentally Sustainable Diets for Young Children Open
View article: The co-design of support strategies for sustainable, healthy and affordable food provision in Early Childhood Education settings
The co-design of support strategies for sustainable, healthy and affordable food provision in Early Childhood Education settings Open
Objective: To co-design support strategies to enable sustainable, healthy, affordable food provision, including waste mitigation practices, in Australian Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings. Design: Based on the co-design ID…
View article: The effects of age on associations between pre-school children's eating behaviour traits and diet quality
The effects of age on associations between pre-school children's eating behaviour traits and diet quality Open
Child eating behaviour traits are associated with several aspects of dietary intake of pre-school children, however the associations between child eating behaviour traits and overall dietary quality in pre-school children has not been exam…
View article: Bioavailability of Australian pre-schooler iron intakes at specific eating occasions is low
Bioavailability of Australian pre-schooler iron intakes at specific eating occasions is low Open
View article: Mapping the potential of meal kits to influence parental food literacy: an application of behaviour change frameworks
Mapping the potential of meal kits to influence parental food literacy: an application of behaviour change frameworks Open
Cooking at home and eating together provide opportunities to improve family nutrition and promote healthy dietary habits. Commercial meal kit subscription services (MKSSs) (e.g. HelloFresh™, Marley Spoon™, EveryPlate™) may support parents …
View article: Nutrition environments in early childhood education: do they align with best practice? – ERRATUM
Nutrition environments in early childhood education: do they align with best practice? – ERRATUM Open
View article: Nutrition environments in early childhood education: do they align with best practice?
Nutrition environments in early childhood education: do they align with best practice? Open
Objective: To assess the comprehensiveness (scope of nutrition guidance) and strength (clarity of written language) of centre-based nutrition policies (CBNP) within early childhood education (ECE) centres. To also consider the applicabilit…
View article: Mothers’ experiences of reducing family mealtime screen use in Australian households with young children
Mothers’ experiences of reducing family mealtime screen use in Australian households with young children Open
Objective: Screen use at mealtimes is associated with poor dietary and psychosocial outcomes in children and is disproportionately prevalent among families of low socio-economic position (SEP). This study aimed to explore experiences of re…
View article: Mapping the behaviour change potential of meal kits to positively influence parental food literacy
Mapping the behaviour change potential of meal kits to positively influence parental food literacy Open
Objective: This study aimed to examine the theoretical potential of meal kit subscription services in Australia to promote parental food literacy using the retrospective application of behaviour change frameworks. Design: A one-week subscr…
View article: Meal kit subscription services and opportunities to improve family vegetable consumption
Meal kit subscription services and opportunities to improve family vegetable consumption Open
Popular commercial meal kit subscription services (MKSSs) may support families to overcome barriers to cooking and eating at home, and facilitate improved vegetable consumption. The global meal kit market has expanded rapidly creating a ga…
View article: Environmental sustainability and food provision in the early childhood and education setting
Environmental sustainability and food provision in the early childhood and education setting Open
Objective: To describe environmentally sustainable (ES) and healthy food provision practices in childcare services in Victoria, Australia. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Childcare services providing food onsite. Participants: Staf…
View article: Iron Nutrition of Pre-Schoolers in High-Income Countries: A Review
Iron Nutrition of Pre-Schoolers in High-Income Countries: A Review Open
Pre-schoolers are vulnerable to iron deficiency, which, in high-resource countries, is mainly caused by suboptimal or poorly absorbable iron intakes. This review examines the prevalence of inadequate iron intakes and status, and the non-di…
View article: Mothers' descriptions of their feeding strategies in response to fussy eating with children of different levels of trait fussiness
Mothers' descriptions of their feeding strategies in response to fussy eating with children of different levels of trait fussiness Open
Parent feeding practices influence a child's dietary intake. Many studies examining how parents react to children's fussy eating behaviours have been limited to questionnaire measures, which assess a limited number of feeding practices. Th…
View article: Correction: Characterizing children’s eating patterns: does the choice of eating occasion definition matter?
Correction: Characterizing children’s eating patterns: does the choice of eating occasion definition matter? Open
View article: Nurturing children's development through healthy eating and active living: Time for policies to support effective interventions in the context of responsive emotional support and early learning
Nurturing children's development through healthy eating and active living: Time for policies to support effective interventions in the context of responsive emotional support and early learning Open
Fostering the growth, development, health, and wellbeing of children is a global priority. The early childhood period presents a critical window to influence lifelong trajectories, however urgent multisectoral action is needed to ensure th…
View article: Frequency and distribution of dietary energy, vegetable, fruit and discretionary food intakes in 18-month-old Australian children
Frequency and distribution of dietary energy, vegetable, fruit and discretionary food intakes in 18-month-old Australian children Open
Dietary behaviours in early childhood are understudied despite links with later health. Assessing the distribution of key food groups across the day could identify opportunities for improvements. This study aimed to describe the 24-hourly …
View article: Exploring the Use of a Web-Based Menu Planning Tool in Childcare Services: Qualitative Cross-sectional Survey Study
Exploring the Use of a Web-Based Menu Planning Tool in Childcare Services: Qualitative Cross-sectional Survey Study Open
Background Early childhood is a critical period for supporting the development of healthy eating habits, which may affect lifelong health. Childcare services are important settings for promoting early childhood nutrition; however, food pro…
View article: Mealtime TV Use Is Associated with Higher Discretionary Food Intakes in Young Australian Children: A Two-Year Prospective Study
Mealtime TV Use Is Associated with Higher Discretionary Food Intakes in Young Australian Children: A Two-Year Prospective Study Open
Background: Mealtime television use has been cross-sectionally associated with suboptimal diets in children. This study aimed to assess the two-year prospective association between baseline mealtime television use and subsequent diets in y…
View article: Barriers and enablers to menu planning guideline implementation in Australian childcare centres and the role of government support services
Barriers and enablers to menu planning guideline implementation in Australian childcare centres and the role of government support services Open
Objective: To explore government support service access, perceived barriers/enablers to menu planning and menu compliance in long day care (LDC) centres in Victoria, Australia, where the Victorian Government-funded Healthy Eating Advisory …
View article: Characterizing children’s eating patterns: does the choice of eating occasion definition matter?
Characterizing children’s eating patterns: does the choice of eating occasion definition matter? Open
View article: Characterizing Children’s Eating Patterns: Does the Choice of Eating Occasion Definition Matter?
Characterizing Children’s Eating Patterns: Does the Choice of Eating Occasion Definition Matter? Open
OBJECTIVES: Currently, there are recommendations to defining eating occasions (EO) for use in studies of adults, but none exist for children or adolescents. This study examined how varying definitions of EO influence the characterization o…
View article: Association Between Longitudinal Trajectories of Lifestyle Pattern and BMI in Early Childhood
Association Between Longitudinal Trajectories of Lifestyle Pattern and BMI in Early Childhood Open
Objective This study examined the association between longitudinal trajectories of lifestyle patterns (LPs) and BMI z score in early childhood. Methods Data of children ( n = 439) who participated in the 18‐, 42‐, and 60‐month follow‐ups o…