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3 - Health benefits of cycling
- from PART I - Current challenges
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- By Chris Rissel, University of Sydney
- Edited by Jennifer Bonham, University of Adelaide, Marilyn Johnson, Monash University, Melbourne
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- Book:
- Cycling Futures
- Published by:
- The University of Adelaide Press
- Published online:
- 25 July 2017
- Print publication:
- 31 December 2015, pp 43-62
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Summary
Introduction
Australia and New Zealand, like other developed countries, face serious health problems due to increasing levels of chronic disease such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] recently reported that chronic non-communicable diseases are now the main cause of both disability and death worldwide (OECD, 2010). Globally, chronic diseases have overtaken communicable diseases and injuries as the leading burden of disease (Nugent, 2008). Of the 58 million deaths that occurred globally in 2005, approximately 35 million, or 60%, were due to chronic causes, and most of them were due to cardiovascular disorders and diabetes (32%), cancers (13%) and chronic respiratory diseases (7%) (Abegunde, Mathers, Taghreed, Ortegon, & Strong, 2007). Global projections are that levels of chronic disease will only worsen in coming years (Nugent, 2008; Lopez, 2006). This chapter describes the chronic disease challenges facing developed countries such as Australia and New Zealand and critically examines the evidence that cycling can assist in addressing these challenges. It provides an overview of the international literature on the health benefits of cycling, including relevant Australian studies. It discusses how Australian health promotion agencies approach health aspects of cycling.
Health challenges
In Australia, the leading underlying cause of death in 2011 was coronary heart disease, followed by lung cancer and cerebrovascular disease among men, and cerebrovascular disease and dementia and Alzheimer's disease among women (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2014). Currently, 9 in 10 deaths have chronic disease as an underlying cause (AIHW, 2014). Data from the 2007-08 National Health Survey indicates that one-third of the Australian population (35%, or 7 million people) reported having at least one of the following chronic conditions: asthma, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (mainly stroke), arthritis, osteoporosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], depression or high blood pressure. In Australia and New Zealand, chronic diseases together cause 85% of the total burden of disease (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation [IHME], 2013). There are an estimated 1 million people with diagnosed diabetes in Australia, and the incidence of new cases is increasing rapidly, including among young people (AIHW, 2014). The rate of selfreported diabetes more than doubled between 1989-90 and 2011-12, from 1.5% to 4.2% of Australians.
Reliability and validity of a short FFQ for assessing the dietary habits of 2–5-year-old children, Sydney, Australia
- Victoria M Flood, Li Min Wen, Louise L Hardy, Chris Rissel, Judy M Simpson, Louise A Baur
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- Journal:
- Public Health Nutrition / Volume 17 / Issue 3 / March 2014
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 01 May 2013, pp. 498-509
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- Article
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Objective
A simple FFQ which ranks young children's dietary habits is necessary for population-based monitoring and intervention programmes. The aim of the present study was to determine the reliability and validity of a short FFQ to assess the dietary habits of young children aged 2–5 years.
DesignParents completed a seventeen-item FFQ for their children by telephone on two occasions, two weeks apart. Sixty-four parents also completed 3 d food records for their children. The FFQ included daily servings of fruit and vegetables, frequency of eating lean meat, processed meats, take-away food, snack foods (biscuits, cakes, doughnuts, muesli bars), potato crisps and confectionery, and cups of soft drinks/cordials, juice, milk and water. Weighted kappa and intra-class correlation coefficients were used to assess FFQ reliability and the Bland–Altman method was used to assess validity of the FFQ compared with the 3 d food record.
SettingSeven pre-school centres in metropolitan Sydney, Australia.
SubjectsSeventy-seven children aged 2–5 years.
ResultsThe majority of questions had moderate to good reliability: κw ranged from 0·37 (lean meat) to 0·85 (take-away food consumption). Validity analysis showed a significant increase in mean values from the food record with increasing ordered categories from the FFQ for servings of vegetables and fruit and cups of drinks (all trend P ≤ 0·01). Spearman rank correlation coefficient was >0·5 for vegetables, fruit, diet soft drinks and fruit juice.
ConclusionsThe FFQ provides reliable and moderately valid information about the dietary intakes and habits of children aged 2–5 years, in particular for fruit, vegetables and beverages.