The various COVID-19 lockdowns and restriction periods significantly changed both food accessibility and availability, which considerably impacted food practices of Australians. Food insecurity prevalence increased in Tasmania(1), but data from elsewhere in Australia is scarce and other changes in food shopping habits have not been reported. We aimed to explore Australian adults’ self-reported experiences of running out of food, spending on food and food shopping habits during the COVID-19 restriction periods in 2020. An online survey of Australian adults was administered via Qualtrics. Chi-square tests examined bivariate associations between categorical variables (gender, age, change in employment status, education level, main language spoken at home and marital status), and responses to the main research questions. Respondents (n = 764) were predominantly female (86%), primarily from Victoria (48%), with the majority over 55 years of age (57%, mean age [SD] 53.4 [18.1] years). Additionally, half (51%) were not in paid employment. Overall, 11% reported running out of food and not being able to purchase more. There was an association between age and running out of food (4% of the 64–74 and 75+ year old age groups ran out of food compared to 23% of the 18–24 year olds, p < 0.001, chi square). The most reported reasons for running out of food, out of six provided options, were ‘lack of availability in the shops’ (74%) and ‘lack of money’ (34%). There was no association with gender, employment status change, education level, main language spoken at home, or marital status and running out of food. When asked how the amount of money spent on food changed during COVID-19, most respondents (n = 318, 42%) reported spending about the same amount of money as before the pandemic, 284 (37%) reported spending more and 162 (21%) reported spending less on food. About a third of respondents (38%, n = 293) reported buying more food than they needed since the start of COVID-19 and 9% (n = 66) reported wasting more food than usual. This did not differ with age, gender, employment status change, education level, main language spoken at home, or marital status. Nearly two-thirds (63%) reported that they had changed how they bought their food since the start of COVID-19.Of these 75% reported a change in frequency of food shopping and 45% reported a change in the amount of time spent food shopping. Just under half (44%) reported a change in the amount of money spent on food and 42% reported a change in the food bought. The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions caused significant changes to Australians’ food procurement and younger people appeared more at risk of food insecurity. Policies that support young people are important to ensure food security in the most vulnerable groups.

Parents and teachers have expressed concerns about the adequacy of time allocated to eat lunch at primary schools in Australia(1). Short school lunch durations can result in negative outcomes such as insufficient food consumption, resulting in hunger and inadequate energy and nutrition(2). A recent study reported that students consumed less fruits and vegetables when given 10 minutes to eat compared to 20 minutes(3), leading to increased food waste. We aimed to explore parents’ perceptions regarding time-related aspects associated with school lunch including the sufficiency of time to eat school lunch, children requesting and parents providing quick-to-eat food, and the perception that healthy food takes longer time to eat. Additionally, we aimed to explore whether these time-related perceptions and children’s age are associated with how often children finish their lunches. An online survey was conducted in 2022 to explore Victorian parents’ perceptions regarding primary school lunches including the aspects mentioned above. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for all variables. Chi-square tests were used to explore the relationship between parents’ perceptions of time-related aspects and child’s age and how often children finish their lunches. Out of 359 parents, 29% reported that their child sometimes, rarely, or never finishes their lunches. When asked about reasons for this, 20% chose ‘not enough time is provided to finish lunch’ and 19% chose ‘my child is more interested in playing than eating during lunchtime’. About half of parents strongly agreed or agreed (SA/A) that the allocated time at their child’s school is not sufficient to eat school lunch (48%). Fifty percent of parents SA/A that their child asks them to pack easy-to-eat food and 60% SA/A that they provide such food for school lunches. However, the majority of parents (62%) strongly disagreed or disagreed (SD/D) that healthy foods take longer than less healthy food to eat during school lunchtime. More parents who SA/A with the statement ‘the allocated time at my child’s school is not sufficient to eat school lunch’ reported their child finishes lunch sometimes, rarely or never compared to parents who SD/D with this statement (36% vs 16%, Chi-sq = 11.372, p = 0.003). Parents’ perceptions regarding other time-related aspects were not associated with finishing lunches. More parents of children in prep to grade 2 compared to parents of children in grades 3 to 6 reported their child finishes their lunch sometimes, rarely or never (73% vs 49%, Chi-sq = 16.813, p < 0.001). The findings indicate that parents have concerns about the time allocated to eat lunch at primary schools. Increasing the time allocated to eating school lunches would help to ease these concerns and allow children, especially the younger primary school children, to eat comfortably and finish their lunches if they wish to do so.

One in five Australian children are food insecure(1), and the majority are consuming inadequate vegetables and too many energy dense nutrient poor foods(2). A healthy school lunch program provided to all children will ensure fair and equitable access to essential nourishment during a school day that can improve academic achievement(3), attention, behaviour and concentration(4) and mental health and wellbeing(5). However, prior to implementing a school meal program, opinions and thoughts of key stakeholders, including teachers, should be explored. The aim of this study was to explore Victorian primary school teachers’ perceptions and opinions of current lunch practices and school provided lunch programs.An online survey of primary school teachers in Victoria was administrated via Qualtrics. Frequencies and percentages of responses were calculated and Chi Square tests were used to explore associations with demographic variables (gender, school type (government, independent, catholic, other)). A total of n = 322 Victorian primary school teachers completed the survey (95% female, 81% government schools). All year levels (Prep–grade 6) were represented. Thirty percent agreed and 45% were unsure whether there should be a school provided lunch program. Most teachers (91%) believed that the school provided lunches would allow children to eat healthy foods and 73% believed it would be convenient for parents. Perceived barriers included; cost for parents (81%), teachers do not want to serve food (75%) and time it would take to serve the food (70%). There was no difference between teachers in government and independent schools in preferences for a school lunch program or perceived potential benefits. However, more teachers from independent schools believed it would take too much time to serve food to all children (81%) compared to teachers from government schools (68%; Pearson’s Chi-Square test, p = 0.045). Additionally, more teachers from government schools thought that delivering a school provided lunch program may reduce teaching time, than teachers from independent schools (52% vs 37% respectively: Pearson’s Chi-square test, p = 0.041).While most teachers agreed school provided lunches would provide children an opportunity to eat healthy food for lunch and would be convenient for parents, less than a third agreed there should be a lunch program and many were unsure. Concerns included taking too much time to serve food and thinking they would need to serve the food themselves. This may be due to a lack of understanding of school provided lunch programs. Further research can investigate effective ways to mitigate some of the identified barriers when designing a school meal program.

Healthy eating patterns from sustainable food systems are crucial for population and planetary health(1). Primary schools are opportune settings for teaching children about food, nutrition and sustainability(2) (FNS), though little is known about the delivery of FNS education in this sector. This study aimed to analyse current approaches to FNS education in Australian primary schools. A cross-sectional online survey (open from August 2022–October 2023) with closed- and open-ended questions collected data about (i) teacher perceptions/attributes regarding FNS education (e.g., importance, understanding, knowledge/skills, training); (ii) FNS teaching practices (e.g., frequency, teaching approaches); and (iii) factors influencing FNS education (e.g., funding, policies). Statistical analyses were conducted using STATA. Descriptive statistics were generated for all categorical data. Chi-square tests and post hoc analyses using contingency tables and adjusted standardised residuals analysed associations between frequency of FNS education and teaching approaches (cross-curricular subject vs stand-alone subjects vs both) and presence of FNS-related policies, access to funding and teacher training. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Qualitative content and thematic analyses of open-ended questions were conducted using NVivo 14. Participants were 413 Australian primary school teachers recruited via social media, organisational mailing lists and departmental school listings. Most teachers reported it is extremely/very important to teach students about nutrition (83.8%), food skills (69.7%) and food sustainability (74.1%), and these topics were considered equally important to most mandatory curriculum subjects. FNS was generally taught only 1–2 times per term (29.9%) or 1–2 times per year (31.6%), and 44.1% of teachers taught this as both a stand-alone and cross-curriculum subject. Teachers reported high levels of understanding (89.3%/92.5%/78.7%) and knowledge/skills (70.5%/75.5%/62.5%) to teach students about food, nutrition and sustainability respectively. Less than a third were trained in food (22.8%), nutrition (29.5%) or sustainability (24.5%) education. Less than a third of teachers had access to funding for FNS activities (29.8%) or training (19.9%) or were from schools with policies about including FNS education in the curriculum (28.5%). There was a significant association between frequency of FNS education and teacher training, access to funding and presence of FNS curriculum policies (all p < 0.001). Teachers who were trained to teach nutrition, food skills or food sustainability were more likely to teach this as both a stand-alone and cross-curricular subject (all p < 0.05). Within open-ended responses, teachers described personal factors (e.g., workload) that influenced their FNS teaching practices, as well as factors related to students’ families (e.g., family food practices), the curriculum (e.g., overcrowding) and the school environment (e.g., time, funding, training). Strengthening FNS education in the Australian primary school sector is an important next step for public health. Researchers and policy makers should explore opportunities for training, funding and policies to prioritise FNS within the curriculum.

Seismic imaging in 3-D holds great potential for improving our understanding of ice sheet structure and dynamics. Conducting 3-D imaging in remote areas is simplified by using lightweight and logistically straightforward sources. We report results from controlled seismic source tests carried out near the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide investigating the characteristics of two types of surface seismic sources, Poulter shots and detonating cord, for use in both 2-D and 3-D seismic surveys on glaciers. Both source types produced strong basal P-wave and S-wave reflections and multiples recorded in three components. The Poulter shots had a higher amplitude for low frequencies (<10 Hz) and comparable amplitude at high frequencies (>50 Hz) relative to the detonating cord. Amplitudes, frequencies, speed of source set-up, and cost all suggested Poulter shots to be the preferred surface source compared to detonating cord for future 2-D and 3-D seismic surveys on glaciers.

Food-related infrastructure in primary schools can be used to deliver healthy and sustainable food education from a young age(1), though little is known about the presence and use of such infrastructure in primary schools. The aim of this study is to explore the use of physical infrastructure in healthy and sustainable food education in Australian primary schools. A quantitative cross-sectional online survey of primary school teachers undertaken between August 2022-July 2023 collected data about the presence and teaching-related use of food gardens, cooking facilities and food waste management systems in primary schools. Descriptive statistics were generated using Stata 17.0 statistical software. Participants were 239 teachers recruited via social media advertising and education/nutrition networks. The majority of teachers agreed that primary schools should have a food garden (n = 194, 81%), cooking facilities (n = 196, 82%) and a food waste system (n = 205, 86%) that can be used for teaching. Whilst three quarters of participants stated their school had a food garden (n = 181, 76%), just over half reported their school had cooking facilities (n = 130, 54%) or a food waste system (n = 131, 55%) that could be used for teaching purposes. More than 60% of participants reported they used such infrastructure within their teaching when it was available. Food waste systems were most commonly reported to be used more than once a week (n = 30, 33%) to teach students about food waste (n = 69, 77%), food sustainability (n = 65, 72%) and the environment (n = 63, 60%). Food gardens were most commonly reported to be used once a week (n = 33, 30%) to teach students about gardening skills (n = 97, 87%), the environment (n = 77, 69%), healthy eating (n = 67, 60%) and food sustainability (n = 67, 60%). Cooking facilities were most commonly reported to be used once or twice a term (n = 21, 23%) to teach students about food preparation and cooking (n = 71, 84%) and healthy eating (n = 62, 73%) and for tasting food (n = 55, 64%). From these findings we conclude that primary school teachers consider food gardens, cooking facilities and food waste systems to be important for delivering healthy and sustainable food education. Whilst food gardens appear to be common in Australian primary schools, there is variability in their use as an educational resource. Further variability exists regarding the presence and use of cooking facilities and food waste systems in primary school settings. There is future scope to (1) extend the presence of food-related infrastructure in primary schools; and (2) develop resources and training opportunities for teachers to support their use of such infrastructure in delivering healthy and sustainable food education for primary school students.

School-provided lunch programs offer numerous benefits to primary school students including improved school attendance and performance, reduced undernutrition, reduced food insecurity, the opportunity to learn healthy eating, and the development of healthy dietary habits(1–3). Australia does not have an ongoing national school-provided lunch program that provides food for all students. To successfully implement a school-provided lunch program in Australian primary schools, it is essential to obtain the opinions of all key stakeholders, including parents. This study aimed to examine Victorian primary school parents’ opinions about a potential school-provided lunch program. An online cross-sectional survey with open- and closed-ended questions was conducted in Victoria, Australia, in 2022. Descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses were performed using SPSS software; thematic analysis was carried out using NVivo. Three hundred and fifty-nine parents responded to the survey. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they would allow their child to participate in a school-provided lunch program, 34% were unsure and only 9% said they would not. The opportunity for hot-cooked lunches at school and the perceived convenience for parents were the top two reasons for favouring such a program. Fifty-eight percent were in favour of hybrid-type funding from both the government and parents, while 30% were in favour of being fully funded by the government. The most preferred amount to pay per meal was AUD5-6 (43%), followed by AUD3-4 (25%). When respondents were asked to rate the importance of six options in school-provided lunches (vegetarian, nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, and vegan options), almost one-third of them selected having ‘vegetarian’ options as important or very important, whilst one-fifth selected ‘nut-free’, ‘dairy-free’, and ‘gluten-free’ options as important or very important. There were no associations between the parents’ or children’s socio-demographic characteristics and the likeliness of letting their children use school-provided lunches, funding preference, the amount willing to pay for school lunches, and the importance of different options. Respondents’ written responses revealed that they expected school-provided lunches to be healthy and made from whole food and cater to the special dietary and cultural needs of their children. Their other expectations included food being tasty and offered in a child-friendly way, having a variety of food offered, and having backup options if the children would/ could not eat those meals. They also expected enough time to be provided for eating lunches so children could eat and enjoy the meals. The findings of this study suggest that Victorian primary school parents are open to the idea of a school-provided lunch program, but they do have several expectations regarding the menu and time for eating. Program planners could use the findings of this study to create a school lunch program that aligns with the parents’ expectations and preferences.

Mealtime environments and food provision contexts in primary school influence students’ food behaviours(1) and are an opportunity for nutrition intervention(2). This study aims to explore primary school food provision contexts including eating environments and food provision models and policies. A quantitative cross-sectional online survey of Australian primary school teachers undertaken between August 2022-July 2023 collected data about: (1) designated eating times and locations for lunch and snacks; (2) teacher use of mealtimes for food and nutrition education; and(3) presence of food services and food-related policies. Descriptive statistics were generated using Stata 17.0 statistical software. Participants were 239 teachers recruited via social media advertising and education/nutrition networks. The majority of teachers reported their school provided allocated time for children to eat a morning snack (n = 201, 84%) and lunch (n = 234, 98%). Around three quarters of teachers reported an allocated eating time of 10 minutes or less for morning snack (n = 146, 73%) and 15 minutes or less for lunch (n = 174, 74%). Teachers stated lunch was most commonly eaten in the classroom with time to finish in the yard (n = 90, 38%) or in the yard as a group (n = 70, 30%). It was most common for morning snack to be eaten in the classroom (n = 119, 59%). Most teachers stated they had the opportunity to eat lunch with their students at least sometimes (n = 159, 67%). Of these teachers, 31% (n = 50) reported they used this time to teach students about food and nutrition, for example, in a pedagogical lunch. Of 109 teachers who did not use lunch time to teach students about food and nutrition, 43% (n = 69) stated they would be interested in doing this in the future. When asked about the availability of food services at their school, 62% (n = 147) of teachers reported their school had a canteen, 28% (n = 67) reported their school offered lunch orders via an external food outlet and 35% (n = 83) reported their school had a breakfast program. Only 34% of teachers reported their school had policies about the foods available from school food services. From these findings we conclude that a variety of mealtime and food provision contexts exist within Australian primary schools, and that there is opportunity to leverage eating occasions and food provision models and policies for nutrition intervention. This includes the opportunity to utilise mealtimes for delivering food and nutrition education, for example, through the concept of a pedagogical lunch.

Primary school aged children (aged 4-12 years) in Australia consume approximately 40% of daily energy from energy-dense, nutrient poor foods and fewer than 5% meet the recommended guidelines for vegetables and fruit (ABS 2018). Poor eating habits in children can track into adulthood increasing the risk of non-communicable diseases later in life (Nicklaus 2013). Children spend a large amount of time at school where they are provided with social contexts which influence behaviour development (FAO, 2022) and thus are ideal settings for teaching children about food and nutrition (FAO, 2022; WHO 2017). This pilot study was designed in response to a call to action from a local primary school in southeast Melbourne facing disadvantage. Anecdotally, the school reported poor food literacy with many students bringing unhealthy lunches. The school asked us to design, pilot, and evaluate a student education program enabling healthier lunches among these children. The aim of the study was to explore the effectiveness of a 4-week food and nutrition education program delivered to grade 4 students within a disadvantaged area targeting, children’s food-related knowledge, behaviours and self-efficacy (confidence) to pack a healthy lunch. The program delivered weekly 1-hour interactive sessions over four weeks (October-November 2022). Topics included healthy eating, designing healthy lunches and food safety and were delivered using interactive games, activities, quizzes and food tasting. Students completed an online survey measuring their knowledge, self-efficacy and behaviour (e.g. foods packed in their lunchbox) pre- and post- program. A comparative analysis of the pre- and post-survey responses was performed using McNemar Tests in SPSS version 29.0. Sixty students completed both the pre- and post-surveys. A significant increase (p<0.001) in knowledge of recommended daily serves of fruit (pre 43%, post 80%) and vegetables (pre 17%, post 54%) was observed. There was also a significant (p<0.001) increase in student’s ability to identify ‘sometimes food’. No changes were observed in identification of ‘everyday food’, sources of protein and sources of dairy food or safety knowledge. Children’s confidence to make healthy food swaps significantly increased from pre- to post- program (27%45%, p = 0.035). We observed significant increases in children’s food and nutrition related knowledge for some topics and confidence to make healthy food swaps following completion of the program. A program of longer duration may be beneficial to observe additional improvements in knowledge as well as behaviour change, including foods packed in school lunches.

University students are a unique population subgroup, who experience a life transition into adulthood, often marked by the establishment of unhealthy eating behaviours(1) which are associated with chronic disease risk factors, poor mental health and lower academic achievement(2). Data regarding the food skills/behaviours of university students is limited, but low cooking self- efficacy and food skills are potential barriers to healthy meal preparation(1). Nourished@Deakin is an online cooking program, co-designed by Deakin University students, that aims to inspire students to cook and eat healthier. It commenced in November 2021 and includes a series of blogs, recipes, and cooking videos, available to all Deakin students via a Deakin University blog site. To determine if accessing Nourished@Deakin improves food skill confidence, food intake, and nutrition knowledge, participants completed a short online survey before accessing Nourished@Deakin materials and then again four weeks after their first engagement. The survey included 31 questions regarding confidence related to a variety of food skills (eg. recipe following, reading food labels, meal planning); 2 questions regarding fruit/vegetable intake; 11 knowledge questions regarding the Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADGs); and 16 demographic questions. Pre/post surveys were compared using paired t tests (knowledge scores, fruit/veg serves) or McNemar extact test (proportions). A total of 108 students completed the pre-survey and 41 (mean (SD) age 27.0 (8.4) years; 63% female) also completed the post-survey. Of the 41 participants who completed both surveys, 42% were studying within the Faculty of Health and 16 (39%) were living in the family home with parents. Most (68%) were studying full time and 59% were employed part-time/casually. Three-quarters were domestic students, and 59% were undergraduate students. Following completion of Nourished@Deakin, there was a significant increase in the proportion of participants feeling confident in two of the 31 food skills (namely ‘meal planning’: 44% pre vs 63% post, P<0.05; and ‘growing fruit and/or vegetables at home’: 22% pre vs 44% post, P<0.05). Fruit intake increased from 1.6 serves/day pre-program to 1.9 serves/day post-program (P<0.05), but vegetable intake remained stable (2.5 serves/day pre and 2.6 serves/day post, P = 0.287). Before participating in Nourished@Deakin, 56% of participants correctly reported the recommended daily serves of fruit and 66% correctly reported it for vegetables. The mean ADG knowledge score was 8.2/9 and 49% of participants got all nine questions correct. There were no significant changes in any of the knowledge markers post-program. Over a relatively short period, Nourished@Deakin produced modest improvements in the self-reported confidence in some food skills and self-reported fruit intake. A revised program (incorporating a greater variety of recipes, additional blogs, and new videos) may encourage greater engagement and result in increased confidence and knowledge in other targeted areas.

Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is increasingly recognised as a valuable tool for glaciological seismic applications, although analysing the large data volumes generated in acquisitions poses computational challenges. We show the potential of active-source DAS to image and characterise subglacial sediment beneath a fast-flowing Greenlandic outlet glacier, estimating the thickness of sediment layers to be 20–30 m. However, the lack of subglacial velocity constraint limits the accuracy of this estimate. Constraint could be provided by analysing cryoseismic events in a counterpart 3-day record of passive seismicity through, for example, seismic tomography, but locating them within the 9 TB data volume is computationally inefficient. We describe experiments with data compression using the frequency-wavenumber (f-k) transform ahead of training a convolutional neural network, that provides a ~300-fold improvement in efficiency. In combining active and passive-source and our machine learning framework, the potential of large DAS datasets could be unlocked for a range of future applications.

We report results and modelling of an experiment performed at the Target Area West Vulcan laser facility, aimed at investigating laser–plasma interaction in conditions that are of interest for the shock ignition scheme in inertial confinement fusion (ICF), that is, laser intensity higher than ${10}^{16}$ $\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ impinging on a hot ($T>1$ keV), inhomogeneous and long scalelength pre-formed plasma. Measurements show a significant stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) backscattering ($\sim 4\%{-}20\%$ of laser energy) driven at low plasma densities and no signatures of two-plasmon decay (TPD)/SRS driven at the quarter critical density region. Results are satisfactorily reproduced by an analytical model accounting for the convective SRS growth in independent laser speckles, in conditions where the reflectivity is dominated by the contribution from the most intense speckles, where SRS becomes saturated. Analytical and kinetic simulations well reproduce the onset of SRS at low plasma densities in a regime strongly affected by non-linear Landau damping and by filamentation of the most intense laser speckles. The absence of TPD/SRS at higher densities is explained by pump depletion and plasma smoothing driven by filamentation. The prevalence of laser coupling in the low-density profile justifies the low temperature measured for hot electrons ($7\!{-}\!12$ keV), which is well reproduced by numerical simulations.