Ministry of Health Library

Health Improvement and Innovation Digest

Issue 166 - 26 April 2018

Welcome to the fortnightly Health Improvement and Innovation Digest (formerly the HIIRC digest). The Digest has links to key evidence of interest, with access to new content arranged by topic.

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Have you heard about Grey Matter?

We'd like to introduce you to another newsletter that the Ministry of Health Library prepares.  The Grey Matter newsletter provides monthly access to a selection of recent NGO, Think Tank, and International Government reports related to health. Information is arranged by topic, allowing readers to quickly find their areas of interest.  If you'd like to subscribe to Grey Matter, email library@moh.govt.nz

Article access

For articles that aren't open access, contact your DHB library, or organisational or local library for assistance in accessing the full text. If your organisation has a subscription, you may be able to use the icon under full text links in PubMed to access the full article.

Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (New Zealand)

Enablers and barriers for women with gestational diabetes mellitus to achieve optimal glycaemic control - a qualitative study using the theoretical domains framework
Glycaemic target recommendations vary widely between international professional organisations for women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Some studies have reported women's experiences of having GDM, but little is known how this relates to their glycaemic targets. The aim of this study, published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, was to identify enablers and barriers for women with GDM to achieve optimal glycaemic control.

Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (International)

Diabetes UK evidence‐based nutrition guidelines for the prevention and management of diabetes
This article, published in Diabetic Medicine, presents a summary of the latest evidence‐based nutrition guidelines for the prevention and management of diabetes.

Primary Mental Health (New Zealand)

Emotion regulation and well-being in primary classrooms situated in low-socioeconomic communities
Although emotion is central to most models of children's well-being, few studies have looked at how well-being is related to the ways in which children regulate their emotions. The aim of this study, published in the British Journal of Educational Psychology, was to examine the associations among children's emotion regulation strategy choice and their emotional expression, behaviour, and well-being. The study also investigated whether contextual factors influenced the emotion regulation strategies children chose to use.

Cutting back on alcohol consumption: Key results
This report, by the Health Promotion Agency, provides information about the extent to which drinkers think about and attempt to reduce their alcohol consumption, and how they might achieve this.

Primary Mental Health (International)

Mindfulness-Based Interventions for the Treatment of Substance and Behavioral Addictions: A Systematic Review
The aim of this paper, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, was to conduct a systematic review about the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in both substance and behavioural addictions.

Increased Immunisation (New Zealand)

Pertussis vaccination uptake in pregnancy: lessons to be learned from an integrated healthcare approach
The aim of this study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, was to determine the proportion of pregnant women vaccinated with the pertussis booster in the third trimester of their pregnancy, and explore factors influencing coverage.

Increased Immunisation (International)

Strategies for increasing uptake of vaccination in pregnancy in high-income countries: A systematic review
Vaccination in pregnancy is an effective method to protect against disease for the pregnant woman, foetus and new born infant. In England, it is recommended that pregnant women are vaccinated against pertussis and influenza. Improvement in the uptake of both pertussis and influenza vaccination among pregnant women is needed to prevent morbidity and mortality for both the pregnant women and unborn child. The aim of this study, published in Vaccine, was to identify effective strategies in increasing the uptake of vaccination in pregnancy in high-income countries and to make recommendations for England.

Weight Management (New Zealand)

Volume, nature and potential impact of advertisements on Facebook and YouTube by food brands popular in New Zealand
The aim of this study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, was to analyse extent, nature and potential impact of marketing by food and beverage brands popular in New Zealand on Facebook and YouTube.

Weight Management (International)

Relationship Between Weekly Patterns of Caloric Intake and Reported Weight Loss Outcomes: Retrospective Cohort Study
Although millions of overweight and obese adults use mobile phone apps for weight loss, little is known about the predictors of success. The objective of this study, published in JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, was to understand the relationship between weight loss outcomes and weekly patterns of caloric intake among overweight and obese adults using a mobile phone app for weight loss.

The Coaching on Lifestyle (CooL) Intervention for Overweight and Obesity: A Longitudinal Study into Participants’ Lifestyle Changes
Combined lifestyle interventions (CLIs) can be effective in reducing weight and improving lifestyle-related behaviours but it is unclear how CLIs can best be implemented in practice in order to achieve sustained lifestyle changes. The Coaching on Lifestyle programme (CooL) is a CLI in the Netherlands, in which professional lifestyle coaches counsel adults and children (and/or their parents) who are obese or at high risk of obesity to achieve a sustained healthier lifestyle. The CooL intervention consists of group and individual sessions addressing the topics of physical activity, dietary behaviours, sleep and stress. This longitudinal one-group pre-post study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, aimed to identify lifestyle changes among participants (adults, children and their parents) at 8 and 18 months after initiation.

Childhood Obesity (International)

Pathways of Association from Stress to Obesity in Early Childhood
The objective of this study, published in Obesity, was to critically review the literature on early life stress in relation to obesity in humans, including the multiple biological and behavioural mechanisms through which early life stress exposure (birth to the age of 5 years) may associate with obesity risk during childhood.

Non-Nutritive Sweeteners and Metabolic Health Outcomes in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
The objective of this study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, was to systematically assess and quantitatively synthesise the literature regarding the association of consumption of non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) during childhood with negative metabolic health outcomes.

The relation between family meals and health of infants and toddlers: A review
Family meals are associated with multiple health benefits in children and adolescents including evidence that eating together as a family may play a role in reducing childhood obesity. This review, published in Appetite, aims to investigate whether the beneficial health effects of the family meal also apply to infants and toddlers.

Oral Health (New Zealand)

Oral status, cognitive function and dependency among New Zealand nursing home residents
The objective of this study, published in Gerodontology, was to investigate clinical oral disease and its association with cognitive function and dependency among older New Zealanders in residential aged care.

Key Ministry of Health Publications

Mortality: Historical summary 1948–2015
These tables present mortality data (numbers and age-standardised rates) by sex for certain causes of death for each year from 1948 to 2015. Māori and non-Māori mortality data is presented from 1996 to 2015.

The information available on or through this newsletter does not represent Ministry of Health policy. It is intended to provide general information to the health sector and the public, and is not intended to address specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity.