Health Promotion (Conference Papers)

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  • Publication
    Informing food policies in post-primary schools in Ireland: Knowledge to Action
    (NUI Galway, 2016-06-15) Callaghan, Mary; Kelly, Colette; |~|
    [No abstract available]
  • Publication
    Towards building healthy school communities through healthy food access.
    (Health Promotion Research Centre, NUI Galway, 2014) Callaghan, Mary; Molcho, Michal; Nic Gabhainn, Saoirse; Kelly, Colette; |~|
    One of the goals of health promotion is to make it easier for people to make the healthy choice. Enabling students to make the healthy choice by improving access to, and availability of, healthy foods is essential in promoting population health. The aim of this study was to explore food availability inside and outside of post-primary schools in Ireland. Schools (n=119) that took part in the 2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study were invited to participate in an online questionnaire which included questions on the internal school food environment. Data were collected from 63 post-primary schools (response rate 55%). The external food environment was characterised by mapping food business locations within 1 kilometre of schools, using ArcGIS 10. Food businesses were categorised based on type of food sold. The majority of schools (68.3%) reported having a canteen, over half (52.5%) had a small food shop and more than a third (37.1%) had a vending machine. Of the schools surveyed, 96.8% had 1 or more food selling businesses, and 75% had 1 or more fast-food businesses within 1 kilometre of the school. This presentation will describe food available in post-primary schools and the categorisation of food businesses in Ireland. The challenges of improving healthy food availability for school communities will be discussed.
  • Publication
    Exploring the food environment of post-primary schools in Ireland.
    (2013) Callaghan, Mary; Kelly, Colette; Molocho, Michal; Saoirse, Nic Gabhainn; |~|
  • Publication
    Diet and related behaviour of children from disadvantaged schools in Ireland: data from the 2006 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey.
    (Cambridge Journals Online / The Nutrition Society, 2008-07) Kelly, Colette; Gavin, Aoife; Molcho, Michal; Nic Gabhainn, Saoirse; Department of Health and Children (Health Promotion Unit)
    In 2005 an action plan for educational inclusion, Delivery Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) was launched in Ireland to ensure the educational needs of children and adolescents from disadvantaged communities are prioritised and effectively addressed. One of the core elements comprise a new integrated School Support Programme (SSP) that will bring together, and build upon, existing interventions for schools and school communities with a concentrated level of educational disadvantage. The School Meals programme is an existing scheme that will continue to provide funding towards provision of food services for disadvantaged schoolchildren.
  • Publication
    Food consumption and dietary behaviour of children from the Traveller community: data from the 2006 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey.
    (Cambridge Journals Online / The Nutrition Society, 2008-06-20) Kelly, Colette; Gavin, Aoife; Molcho, Michal; Nic Gabhainn, Saoirse; Department of Health and Children (Health Promotion Unit)
    The Travelling community are an indigenous ethnic group of Irish people with a distinct culture and history of nomadism. Travellers differ from the general population in many aspects, including their lifestyle, culture and treatment by society(1). Based on the most recent census (2006) it is estimated there are 22 435 Travellers in Ireland, of these, 50.8% (11 398) are aged £ 18 years(2). The health status of Travellers is poor in comparison with the general population(3), but there is little information about Travellers¿ dietary habits. Furthermore, there appear to be no published studies investigating the diet of Traveller children in Ireland. Thus, data from the 2006 Irish HBSC Survey were employed to investigate reported food behaviour of school-going Traveller children.