BMC Public Health
http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles
(Accessed 13 February 2016)

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Research article
Effects of parent and child behaviours on overweight and obesity in infants and young children from disadvantaged backgrounds: systematic review with narrative synthesis
Catherine Georgina Russell, Sarah Taki, Rachel Laws, Leva Azadi, Karen J. Campbell, Rosalind Elliott, John Lynch, Kylie Ball, Rachael Taylor and Elizabeth Denney-Wilson
BMC Public Health 2016 16:151
Published on: 13 February 2016
Abstract
Background
Despite the crucial need to develop targeted and effective approaches for obesity prevention in children most at risk, the pathways explaining socioeconomic disparity in children’s obesity prevalence remain poorly understood.
Methods
We conducted a systematic review of the literature that investigated causes of weight gain in children aged 0–5 years from socioeconomically disadvantaged or Indigenous backgrounds residing in OECD countries. Major electronic databases were searched from inception until December 2015. Key words identified studies addressing relationships between parenting, child eating, child physical activity or sedentary behaviour and child weight in disadvantaged samples.
Results
A total of 32 articles met the inclusion criteria. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool quality rating for the studies ranged from 25 % (weak) to 100 % (strong). Studies predominantly reported on relationships between parenting and child weight (n = 21), or parenting and child eating (n = 12), with fewer (n = 8) investigating child eating and weight. Most evidence was from socio-economically disadvantaged ethnic minority groups in the USA. Clustering of diet, weight and feeding behaviours by socioeconomic indicators and ethnicity precluded identification of independent effects of each of these risk factors.
Conclusions
This review has highlighted significant gaps in our mechanistic understanding of the relative importance of different aspects of parent and child behaviours in disadvantaged population groups.

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Research article
What is positive youth development and how might it reduce substance use and violence? A systematic review and synthesis of theoretical literature
Chris Bonell, Kate Hinds, Kelly Dickson, James Thomas, Adam Fletcher, Simon Murphy, G. J. Melendez-Torres, Carys Bonell and Rona Campbell
BMC Public Health 2016 16:135
Published on: 10 February 2016
Abstract
Background
Preventing adolescent substance use and youth violence are public health priorities. Positive youth development interventions are widely deployed often with the aim of preventing both. However, the theorised mechanisms by which PYD is intended to reduce substance use and violence are not clear and existing evaluated interventions are under-theorised. Using innovative methods, we systematically searched for and synthesised published theoretical literature describing what is meant by positive youth development and how it might reduce substance use and violence, as part of a broader systematic review examining process and outcomes of PYD interventions.
Methods
We searched 19 electronic databases, review topic websites, and contacted experts between October 2013 and January 2014. We included studies written in English, published since 1985 that reported a theory of change for positive youth development focused on prevention of smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use or violence in out-of-school settings. Studies were independently coded and quality-assessed by two reviewers.
Results
We identified 16 studies that met our inclusion criteria. Our synthesis suggests that positive youth development aims to provide youth with affective relationships and diverse experiences which enable their development of intentional self-regulation and multiple positive assets. These in turn buffer against or compensate for involvement in substance use and violence. Existing literature is not clear on how intentional self-regulation is developed and which specific positive assets buffer against substance use or violence.
Conclusions
Our synthesis provides: an example of a rigorous systematic synthesis of theory literature innovatively applying methods of qualitative synthesis to theoretical literature; a clearer understanding of how PYD might reduce substance use and violence to inform future interventions and empirical evaluations.