Lower prices gets more fruit and veg in the shopping basket
Researchers from C-PAN have highlighted the importance of lower prices as a mechanism to promote the purchase and consumption of fruit and vegetables.
How can policy support the provision of healthy food in communities?
Watch a seminar hosted by C-PAN, together with the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute and the Obesity Policy Coalition featuring Dr Corinna Hawkes.
Investigating the link between Diet and cognition
Watch Dr Catherine Milte's short video featured in the Medibank Community Fund's 'year in review' on her investigation of the link between diet and cognition.
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Research in C-PAN spans basic metabolism and physiology, through clinical and behavioural studies, to community and population-based research.
Our Research Areas include:
Physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children and adolescents
- Understanding the factors impacting on children and adolescents physical activity and sedentary behaviour levels.
- Designing programs in schools and homes to help kids be more active and less sedentary.
- Changing neighbourhoods to make it easier for kids to engage in active transport and be physically active.
- Understanding why some people gain an unhealthy amount of weight, and what can be done to prevent unhealthy weight gain.
- Developing programs to help prevent unhealthy weight gain in children, adolescents, adults and older adults.
Understanding how to design neighbourhoods to improve health by:
- Encouraging active transport and increasing opportunities for physical activity
- Improving access to healthy food outlets, and restricting the location of fast food outlets.
- Evaluating the effectiveness of improvements to public open spaces (e.g. parks, green spaces), for increasing usage and physical activity.
Healthy behaviours in early childhood
- Encouraging good health in children from infancy to primary school-aged, by giving families the knowledge and skills to help children eat well, be physically active, and reduce sedentary behaviour.
- Improving health of people on low incomes or living in disadvantaged areas by helping them gain knowledge, confidence and skills to eat better and be more active.
- Changing neighbourhoods to ensure people in disadvantaged communities have access to healthy foods and physical activity opportunities.
- Understanding nutrition and physical activity issues for older people.
- Developing programs to prevent falls and injury, improve nutritional status and improve cognition in older people, to keep them living well and independently for longer.
- Understanding the role of maternal nutrition during pregnancy on the health of mothers and babies.
- Educating health professionals and ‘mums-to-be’ on preventing unhealthy weight gain and improving health in pregnancy to ensure the best outcomes for mothers and babies.
Healthy and active workplaces
- Helping workplaces reduce the time workers spend being sedentary (sitting) at work to improve health.
- Helping emergency services workers stay safe, physically and mentally well to be able to perform at their best so they can help Australians in times of crisis.
Healthy bones and muscles
- Understanding how nutrition and physical activity affects muscle and bone development, growth and performance in healthy people.
- Understanding how best to maximise muscle strength and function.
Incurable muscle disease
- Finding treatments to enhance quality of life until a cure can be found for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (diagnosed in childhood), and motor neurone disease.
Chronic disease prevention and treatment
Identifying how particular nutrients and exercise can:
- Help to prevent diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, stroke, anemia, prostate cancer and dementia.
- Assist with the management and treatment of these diseases to help people live well for longer.
Cognitive and mental health
- Identifying how different types of exercise, nutrients and eating patterns can improve cognition, reduce the risk of cognitive decline and help improve mental health.
Consumer food choices
- Understanding the factors that influence the food choices we make, which factors are most important when making food choices and how to influence food choices.
- Working with food stores such as supermarkets, to promote healthy eating and easy access to healthy foods in-store.
Salt and health
- Monitoring salt intakes and raising awareness about salt and its impact on health.
- Helping families to reduce salt intake, and preventing young children developing a taste for salt, to improve future health.
Food policy and public health
- Understanding food systems to protect food sustainability and security.
- Promoting healthy and sustainable diets.
- Monitoring and evaluating the public health impact of dietary guidelines, food selection guides, nutrient reference values and food regulation.
Deakin University CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B