Children’s Independent Mobility: Current Knowledge, Future Directions, and Public Health Implications

Environmental changes significantly impact health behavior. Active travel behavior is mostly affected by increasing motorization, urban sprawl, and traffic safety. Especially for children, active and independent travel can contribute to physical activity, social and motor development, and other health-related outcomes. A reduced number of children engaging in independent mobility over the last 20 years demanded researchers to further examine the construct of children’s independent mobility. By examining relevant literature, this narrative review aims to provide the current state of knowledge on children’s independent mobility, and identify future directions in research, as well as practical implications. From a public health perspective, considering children’s independent mobility in intervention programs is recommended, since it is associated with numerous health and environmental benefits. To develop interventions, multilevel socio-ecological influences on children’s independent mobility are widely examined; however, evidence is limited due to heterogeneous measurements and a lack of high-quality prospective studies. To oppose the decline in children’s independent mobility, further analysis using comparable measures is needed to understand the determinants of children’s independent mobility and to enable international comparison.

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Youth gambling: A public health perspective

Journal of Gambling Issues ◽

10.4309/jgi.2005.14.9 ◽

2005 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Carmen Messerlian ◽

Jeffrey L. Derevensky

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Policy Development ◽

Treatment Programs ◽

Public Health Approach ◽

Youth Gambling ◽

Public Health Perspective ◽

Future Directions ◽

Starting Point ◽

New Perspective ◽

Support Research

Over the last decade research in the area of youth gambling has led to a better understanding of the risk factors, trajectories and problems associated with this behaviour. At the same time, governments have begun to recognize the importance of youth gambling and have offered to support research and treatment programs. Yet, public health and prevention in the realm of youth gambling has only recently drawn the attention of researchers and health professionals. Early work by Korn and Shaffer (1999) set the groundwork for a public health approach to gambling. This paper attempts to apply health promotion theory to youth gambling and describes a conceptual framework and model. Strategies focus on addressing risk and protective factors through community mobilization, health communication, and policy development. It is anticipated that this paper will provide future directions and serve as a starting point for addressing youth gambling issues from this new perspective.

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A Population Approach to Parenting Support for Childhood Obesity

The Power of Positive Parenting ◽

10.1093/med-psych/9780190629069.003.0012 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 156-170

Author(s):

Jessica A. Bartlett ◽

Matthew R. Sanders

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Clinical Practice ◽

Childhood Obesity ◽

Population Level ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Population Approach ◽

Public Health Perspective ◽

Future Directions ◽

Parenting Support ◽

Significant Health

Childhood obesity rates are on the rise worldwide. Considering the significant health and economic costs associated with obesity, emphasis must be placed on addressing this public health dilemma from both preventive and treatment perspectives. Evidence-based parent-centered interventions are an effective way to target obesity in children. Parents play a central role in a child’s lifestyle habits. However, parental recruitment and engagement remains problematic. This challenge must be addressed from a population health framework if improvements in childhood obesity rates are to be achieved. This chapter provides a framework for the prevention and management of childhood obesity from a public health perspective. The need for a population approach to evidence-based parenting programs is advocated to shift population-level rates of obesity. The existing research base for such an approach is discussed, along with future directions for clinical practice and research.

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Controlling implicit bias: Insights from a public health perspective

10.31234/osf.io/a7ng2 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Patrick S. Forscher ◽

Patricia G. Devine

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Implicit Bias ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Human Cognition ◽

Future Research ◽

Public Health Perspective ◽

Research Traditions ◽

Research Questions ◽

Insight Into

Research on reducing or controlling implicit bias has been characterized by a tension between the two goals of reducing lingering intergroup disparities and gaining insight into human cognition. The tension between these two goals has created two distinct research traditions, each of which is characterized by different research questions, methods, and ultimate goals. We argue that the divisions between these research traditions are more apparent than real and that the two research traditions could be synergistic. We attempt to integrate the two traditions by arguing that implicit bias, and the disparities it is presumed to cause, is a public health problem. Based on this perspective, we identify shortcomings in our current knowledge of controlling implicit bias and provide a set of recommendations for future research.

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Autophagic degradation of peroxisomes in mammals

Biochemical Society Transactions ◽

10.1042/bst20150268 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 44 (2) ◽

pp. 431-440 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Katarzyna Zientara-Rytter ◽

Suresh Subramani

Keyword(s):

Mammalian Cells ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Cell Function ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Future Directions ◽

Cellular Processes ◽

Wide Range ◽

Efficient Control ◽

Autophagic Degradation ◽

Eukaryotic Organisms

Peroxisomes are essential organelles required for proper cell function in all eukaryotic organisms. They participate in a wide range of cellular processes including the metabolism of lipids and generation, as well as detoxification, of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Therefore, peroxisome homoeostasis, manifested by the precise and efficient control of peroxisome number and functionality, must be tightly regulated in response to environmental changes. Due to the existence of many physiological disorders and diseases associated with peroxisome homoeostasis imbalance, the dynamics of peroxisomes have been widely examined. The increasing volume of reports demonstrating significant involvement of the autophagy machinery in peroxisome removal leads us to summarize current knowledge of peroxisome degradation in mammalian cells. In this review we present current models of peroxisome degradation. We particularly focus on pexophagy–the selective clearance of peroxisomes through autophagy. We also critically discuss concepts of peroxisome recognition for pexophagy, including signalling and selectivity factors. Finally, we present examples of the pathological effects of pexophagy dysfunction and suggest promising future directions.

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Risk Attitudes and Behavior Among Norwegian Adolescents

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040.10.1.25 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 25-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Hilde Iversen ◽

Torbjørn Rundmo ◽

Hroar Klempe

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Traffic Safety ◽

Behavior Modification ◽

Health Programs ◽

Risk Attitudes ◽

Community Based ◽

Public Health Programs ◽

The Core ◽

And Behavior ◽

Attitudes And Behavior

Abstract. The core aim of the present study is to compare the effects of a safety campaign and a behavior modification program on traffic safety. As is the case in community-based health promotion, the present study's approach of the attitude campaign was based on active participation of the group of recipients. One of the reasons why many attitude campaigns conducted previously have failed may be that they have been society-based public health programs. Both the interventions were carried out simultaneously among students aged 18-19 years in two Norwegian high schools (n = 342). At the first high school the intervention was behavior modification, at the second school a community-based attitude campaign was carried out. Baseline and posttest data on attitudes toward traffic safety and self-reported risk behavior were collected. The results showed that there was a significant total effect of the interventions although the effect depended on the type of intervention. There were significant differences in attitude and behavior only in the sample where the attitude campaign was carried out and no significant changes were found in the group of recipients of behavior modification.

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