Socioeconomic differences in the cost-effectiveness of a telephone-based intervention for obesity prevention in early childhood.

Objectives: This study investigated the cost-effectiveness of an early childhood obesity prevention intervention providing telephone and short message service (SMS) support to mothers of children aged 2-4 years by socioeconomic position (SEP).

Methods: A model-based SEP-specific economic evaluation of the intervention was conducted. SEP-specific intervention costs and effects at age 5 years were derived from the trial data and applied to a cohort of 4- to 5-year-old Australian children.

A qualitative study exploring physician perspectives on a cardiac-based seizure prediction digital service for epilepsy management.

Objective: The unpredictability of epileptic seizures represents a significant challenge to people with epilepsy. To address this, research on seizure prediction has been evolving rapidly. However, insights from end-users that guide the development of this technology have been limited.

Working towards affordable healthy diets: a review on innovations in food price monitoring, policy and research in Australia and beyond.

Healthy diets are unaffordable for billions of people worldwide, with food prices rising in high-, middle- and low-income nations in recent times. Despite widespread attention to this issue, recent actions taken to inform policy prioritisation and government responses to high food inflation have not been comprehensively synthesised. Our review summarises (i) innovative efforts to monitor national food and healthy diet price, ii) new policy responses adopted by governments to address food inflation and (iii) future research directions to inform new evidence.

Evaluating the Nourish Network - a multi-sector collective initiative to progress healthy food retail in Australia.

Objectives: To evaluate the current state of the Nourish Network (NN) - a healthy food retail network, to inform future planning and improvement opportunities.

Design: A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews conducted between January and April 2024, open-ended survey questions from six online surveys applied between 2019-2022, and a focus group with the NN Advisory Committee (NNAC) in June 2024. Thematic analysis was applied to interview and survey data.

The use of discrete choice experiments in evaluating telehealth: a systematic review.

Background: There is a growing body of evidence from discrete choice experiments related to telehealth. Discrete choice experiments offer valuable insights in informing the design and evaluation of telehealth services and supporting the telehealth implementation and policy.

Objective: This review aims to examine studies assessing consumer preferences for telehealth using discrete choice experiments.

Alcohol Promotion via User-Generated Content on Instagram and TikTok: A Content Analysis.

Introduction: Alcohol-related user-generated content (UGC)-created by influencers and peers-appears to play a central role in shaping young people's alcohol-related attitudes and behaviours. However, the nature and extent to which UGC facilitates the promotion of alcohol remains under-examined. There is limited evidence on how alcohol companies utilise social media platforms to engage users and incentivise the promotion of their brands and products.

Parental influence on children's motor competence for active play: A longitudinal analysis.

Although active play contributes to children's physical activity (PA) levels, the parental influences on the development of motor competence for active play are unknown. Therefore, this study analysed whether parental influences predicted their child's motor competence for active play. Data from the InFANT cohort study, collected at ages 5 and 9.

Understanding Loneliness as a Preventive Health Priority Among Men: Findings From an Australian Population Survey.

Issue Addressed: Masculinity norms and risky behaviours are often identified as drivers of poorer health among men, and one underlying factor that is increasingly found to be important is loneliness. The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of loneliness in Australian men and its relationship with preventive health capabilities.

Methods: A national cross-sectional survey of men aged 18 years and over (N = 1282) was conducted.

Enhancing eating disorder content in the tertiary curricula of health disciplines in Australia.

Background: Eating disorders are increasing in prevalence and confer serious physical, emotional and social impacts on individuals, families, communities and systems. Tertiary education of health professionals is key to addressing these impacts. Yet, graduates of key health professions may not complete their studies with the necessary knowledge, skills and confidence to prevent, identify, refer and provide safe care within their role and scope of practice.

Leaving no one behind: the impact of disability and socioeconomic status on maternal continuum of care.

Background: To ensure that women with disabilities (WwD) have access to essential maternal health services, understanding their service utilization within the continuum of care (CoC) framework is vital. However, the influence of women's disability status on maternal CoC has not been fully explored. Hence, this paper examines the completion level and inequality of basic maternal CoC, as well as its association with women's disability status.

The Road to Designing Integrated Neuromuscular Training Programs for Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Li, M, Crotti, M, Martins, R, Tiernan, C, Lyons, M, Lander, N, Barnett, LM, and Duncan, MJ. The road to designing integrated neuromuscular training programs for children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res 39(8): e1043-e1060, 2025-Integrative neuromuscular training (INT) combines motor competence and strength development to boost athletic performance, but its specific components and effects on children and adolescents are not well understood.

A community-based physical activity intervention () can improve participation attendance of young people with disability: a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial.

Objectives: To determine the effect on participation attendance (being there) and involvement (experience of participation) compared with usual activities of a community gym-based physical activity intervention () for young people with disability.

Methods: An assessor-blinded stepped wedge cluster randomised trial was completed involving 163 participants with self-identified disability (61 female; mean age 19), 123 mentors and 11 sites randomised to four groups. Participant and mentor pairs exercised together two times a week for 12 weeks.

Exploring meso- and macro-level contextual factors associated with inequalities in program adoption during statewide scale-up of TransformUs Primary, a whole-school physical activity intervention.

Background: Contextual influences on program implementation exist across micro (individual), meso (organization), and macro (government/environment) system levels, yet macro factors are less frequently explored in implementation research. This retrospective study explored differences in adoption across meso- and macro-system levels using data from the 2018-2022 state-wide hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of TransformUs Primary, a whole-school physical activity intervention. Aims were to: (1) assess differences in contextual characteristics between adopting and non-adopting schools and implications for equity, and (2) assess associations between macro-level events and dissemination events with program adoption over time.

Development and evaluation of a multidimensional diet quality score for sustainable healthy diets (SUSDIET).

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization recommend reducing the intake of ultra-processed foods whilst promoting diets rich in diverse plant foods and with appropriate amounts of animal products. Yet no existing metric simultaneously captures these dimensions of sustainable healthy diets. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a multidimensional diet quality score for sustainable healthy diets (SUSDIET).

Reproductive Decision-Making: What Type of Social Support do Women Living in Victoria, Australia Seek and Are They Satisfied?

Aim: This paper describes the social support women aged 25-35 years living in Victoria, Australia draw on during the reproductive decision-making process specific to the type of support they seek and their satisfaction with that support.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study that collected data through an online questionnaire administered via Qualtrics. This included both closed- and open-ended questions, exploring women's experiences of receiving social support for reproductive decision-making, the types of support they sought, and their satisfaction with the support received.

Exploring co-design: a systematic review of concepts, processes, models, and frameworks used in public health research.

Background: Co-design has emerged as a preferred collaborative approach among public health practitioners and researchers to increase the potential for effective design, implementation, and dissemination of innovations in practice. However, there is a lack of consistency in its application and reporting, which limits co-design theory building and best practice. This systematic review aimed to examine the peer-reviewed literature reporting on the use of co-design as a process in public health, synthesizing co-design definitions, processes, models or frameworks, and participant involvement.

Advancing Applications of System Dynamics in Critical Food Systems Research Comment on "Using System Dynamics to Understand Transnational Corporate Power in Diet-Related Non-communicable Disease Prevention Policy-Making: A Case Study of South Africa".

This commentary commends Milsom et al for their critical and rigorous application of qualitative system dynamics to unpack corporate power in food policy-making. Their use of Critical Realism, best practice qualitative methods, and feedback loops exemplifies the maturation of system dynamics applications in public health research. We reflect on how their work aligns with broader debates about power and social theory in system dynamics and how it offers a blueprint for trustworthiness and reflexivity in qualitative modelling.

Changes in prefrontal hemodynamics and mood states during screen use: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Screen use has been associated with poor cognitive and mental health, yet few studies have examined its effects on brain activity. Our aims were to describe changes in brain activity and mood states following brief exposure to screen-based content; assess the feasibility of using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure these effects; and gather preliminary data to inform future investigations. Twenty-seven young people (age = 21.

Embedding research into the organisational structure of smaller rural hospitals: building research culture and capacity and understanding perceived rural health workforce benefit.

Background: Rural hospitals in Australia have not been afforded the same opportunities for research activity as their metropolitan counterparts. Equitable access to career and research opportunities has been identified as a potential strategy to enhance workforce satisfaction and retention in rural areas. Smaller rural hospitals show potential in being key settings for research; but minimal investment has translated into a lack of action and knowledge.

Variations in severe maternal morbidity between women from refugee backgrounds and Australian-born women in public maternity care: A population-based study in Victoria, Australia.

Background: In high-income countries, maternal mortality and severe morbidity tend to occur more frequently in women from refugee backgrounds, those who have refugee-like experiences; conflict, displacement, persecution, and traumatic experiences related to these, compared to the host country-born populations. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of severe maternal morbidity among women from refugee backgrounds compared to the host country in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was used to compare singleton births from mothers born in Australia (721,425) to those from women of refugee backgrounds (32,845).

"Injecting yourself there is stigma around it; taking a few tablets is not too bad, is it?": understanding perceptions and preferences of anabolic-androgenic steroid route of administration.

Background: Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are administered via injectable and oral route of administration (ROA). Each ROA carries a distinct set of challenges and risks; however, scarce qualitative research has focused on why people who use AAS select one ROA over another.

Aim: This study aims to explore the perceptions and preferences underpinning the decision behind ROA.

Intermittent Fasting for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Risks: Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.

Context: While several studies have assessed the potential effect of intermittent fasting on reducing cardiovascular risks, the findings are inconclusive.

Objective: To compare the relative effectiveness of intermittent fasting methods in reducing key cardiovascular risks.

Methods: Studies were searched from Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library Central and Global Health to identify studies that enrolled adults (≥ 18 years) to intermittent fasting methods and reported effects on one of the six specified cardiovascular risk factors.

Industry responses to unhealthy food retail promotion restrictions: a thematic analysis of two public consultations in Scotland.

Objective: Governments are increasingly implementing policies to improve population diets, despite food industry resistance to regulation that may reduce their profits from sales of unhealthy foods. However, retail food environments remain an important target for policy action. This study analysed publicly available responses of industry actors to two public consultations on regulatory options for restricting unhealthy food price and placement promotions in retail outlets in Scotland.

Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing and Its Use in Health Economic Analysis: A Systematic Literature Review.

Objectives: With rising global healthcare expenditures, there is an increasing demand for value-based healthcare (VBHC). Time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) has been proposed as a key component of VBHC for addressing cost-related challenges. This study aimed to review the application of TDABC in health economic analyses across the continuum of care, explore its methodological advantages, and assess adherence to the 7-step or 8-step methodological reporting frameworks.

Improving control of the Mpox outbreak: a national cross-sectional study on the knowledge, attitudes, and influencing factors among frontline healthcare professionals in Ethiopia.

Introduction: Monkeypox (Mpox) has emerged as a global public health concern, with ongoing outbreaks in non-endemic countries affecting various aspects of the healthcare system. This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and factors associated with Mpox among healthcare professionals in Ethiopia.

Methods: A national cross-sectional study was conducted in Ethiopia from 31 August 2024 to 10 September 2024, involving 749 frontline healthcare professionals.