In March 2020, Blacktown City Council (BCC) partnered with Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) to improve the food environments in five council leisure centres. A co-designed policy (The Policy) – adapted from the Healthy Food and Drink in NSW Health Facilities for Staff and Visitors’ Framework – was introduced to improve the availability of healthy “Everyday” food and drink options. The Policy outlined twelve key practices focused on availability, portion size and marketing. The Policy’s effectiveness in increasing the purchase of healthy food and drink in kiosks was evaluated, identifying areas for improvement, and understanding factors influencing success.
A mixed-methods evaluation assessed The Policy’s impact through stakeholder interviews, staff surveys, compliance audits at four time points, and quarterly sales data monitoring sales from 2020 to 2023.
Over three years, centres achieved at least 75% adherence to The Policy. Sales of Everyday drinks rose from 20% to 54% and Everyday food increased marginally from 8% to 9%. However, food and drink sales declined, with 2023 figures less than half of pre-Policy levels. Staff cited challenges such as limited storage and preparation facilities, despite strong efforts to support change.
Successful food policy reform in this setting relies on:
• Codesign with end users through an iterative, flexible approach and continued monitoring
• Clear audience alignment, in this case centre staff and BCC management
• Addressing drivers to support healthier choices - marketing, education, affordability, infrastructure, supply chains and cultural norms
• Setting clear standards to improve availability, acceptability, and affordability of healthy options

Introduction
Commercial complementary foods (CCFs) are increasingly available in Nepal. However, little is known about the nutrient composition of these foods or health-related information on the packaging. This study assessed the nutrient composition and health information on the labels of CCFs available in stores in the Kathmandu Valley.

Methods
In this cross-sectional survey, conducted in 2024, we visited 4 large stores (2 supermarkets and 2 department stores), 22 corner stores, and 2 baby stores in the Kathmandu Valley and photographed all CCFs in these stores. To analyse, we extracted nutrient and health information from the label and categorized each CCF into WHO Southeast Asia Region Nutrient Profile and Promotion model (SEAR NPPM) food sub-categories. Within each category, we calculated the proportion meeting total energy and nutrient (protein, total sugar, sodium, and total fat) thresholds per 100g of product from the SEAR NPPM and the proportion with health-related labels that complied with 13 SEAR NPPM labelling requirements.

Results
We found 61 CCFs in seven (3 large, 2 small, and 2 baby stores) out of the 28 stores visited. No CPCFs met all energy and nutrient thresholds, 75.6% met food group thresholds for energy, 79.5% for total fat, 50.8% for sodium, 32.5% for protein, and 25% for total sugar. Median total sugar content was double the SEAR NPPM threshold of ≤ 3g/100 g. Less than five (3.3%) CCFs were compliant with all SEAR NPPM labelling requirements. A quarter of labels complied with ‘protect and promote breastfeeding’ requirement, and 6.6% with ‘no nutrition and health claims’ requirement.

Conclusion:
CCFs in Nepal did not comply with the energy and nutrient thresholds of SEAR NPPM and had misleading health information on the labels. A standard for CCF and its strong enforcement is required to promote health and well-being of young Nepali children. Information campaigns are needed to warn caregivers about sodium and sugar in these foods.

Introduction: The Tasmanian School Lunch Program commenced in 2022, providing cooked nutritious lunches to students at 15 Tasmanian schools and expanding to 30 schools in 2023. As a precaution, meals were not provided to students with allergies/intolerances during the first two years of the program (2022-23). ‘Modified meals’ were provided at a pilot school during term 4 2023, with five more schools providing modified meals during 2024. This study examined how food allergies/intolerances were addressed to allow students to safely consume the school lunches.

Methods: During 2022-24, a developmental evaluation approach was used. Qualitative data collection involved surveys, interviews, and focus groups with key stakeholders and review of project documentation. Qualitative data, including responses to open-ended survey questions, were analysed thematically. Quotes are provided in italics.

Results: Six themes were identified: allergen risk assessment and management ‘we wanted to test for all the nuts and various other key allergens’, limited allergen awareness ‘I tend to think that training should be compulsory. There are a lot of things that could go wrong’, cross-sectoral collaboration and communication ‘As soon as we made connections and realised what heavy input each party had, we worked better’, infrastructure and resource support to schools ‘It comes down to them having appropriate training and the space to be able to do it’, inclusivity and equitable access ‘Dislike my child feeling left out’, and building trust among stakeholders ‘I am trusting the process – it is hard to trust others to feed your child when they can have a reaction but so far so good’.

Conclusion: Developing effective food allergy management processes required a collaborative and coordinated approach between parents, students, school staff, School Lunch Program staff and external stakeholders. Adequate planning, ongoing support and resources were identified as essential for providing meals suitable for students with food allergies/intolerances.

Problem: Food allergy is common in Australia, affecting 10% of infants. Primary prevention of food allergy is important as high-level evidence indicates that timely introduction and continued inclusion of common food allergens in the infant diet, particularly peanut and egg, reduces the risk of developing allergies to these foods. In 2016, the Australasian Society for Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA), released updated infant feeding guidelines for allergy prevention. Here we describe the National Allergy Council’s implementation of the allergy prevention guidelines and subsequent changes in infant feeding practices and food allergy rates.

What you did: In 2018 we developed a public health approach to implement the allergy prevention guidelines. Focus groups with parents and health professionals helped identify a meaningful brand and key messages. Resources were developed, including a website ‘Nip Allergies in the Bub’, practical infant feeding advice and videos, underpinned by a social media campaign.

Results: Several Australian studies have assessed changes in infant feeding practices since 2016 however methodology and approach vary. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports on breastfeeding initiation and duration, and timing of solid food introduction. The EarlyNuts study, SmartStartAllergy, OzFITS and BabyEATS studies reported on timing of solid food and common food allergen introduction. These studies all showed a shift towards earlier introduction of allergenic foods in Australia since 2016. The EarlyNuts study reported a slowing in the increase of peanut allergy, but not in families of Southeast Asian descent. In WA, direct provision of the 2016 ASCIA guidelines to families when their infant was 6 months old was reported to be associated with reduced peanut, egg and cow’s milk allergies.

Lessons: Evaluation of change should be embedded into public health programs. There is a need for harmonised infant feeding surveys with prospectively collected data to further inform infant feeding advice in Australia.

Background. Excess sodium and insufficient potassium intake are major dietary risk factors for hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Potassium-enriched salt substitutes, where sodium chloride in regular salt is partially replaced with potassium chloride, effectively lower blood pressure and prevent cardiovascular events. In Australia, packaged foods including ready-meals are leading sodium sources. Reformulating these products by replacing regular salt with potassium-enriched salt may offer a promising strategy for population-level impact. This study explored consumer acceptability of diabetes-friendly ready-meals reformulated with potassium-enriched salt, delivered as part of a Medically Tailored Meals (MTM) trial for adults with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D).
Methods. We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured telephone interviews with intervention group participants from a 26-week MTM randomized controlled trial. Participants received fortnightly deliveries of 20 diabetes-friendly meals prepared with potassium-enriched salt (56% less sodium than regular salt). Interview questions explored perceptions of taste, overall acceptability, and willingness to switch to potassium-enriched salt in everyday use. Data were analysed using thematic analysis to identify key patterns and insights.
Results. Twelve participants with T2D (58% female, mean age 51 years) were interviewed. Most were unaware of the replacement with potassium-enriched salt. Taste acceptability was high, and two-thirds reported no discernible difference compared to regular salt meals. Once informed of the health benefits, all participants supported the salt replacement initiative. However, while health benefits motivated willingness to purchase potassium-enriched salt ready-meals, this did not consistently extend to using potassium-enriched salt in home cooking mainly due to preferring alternative salts or seasonings. Factors that positively affected consumer views on potassium-enriched salt ready-meals included health concerns, especially hypertension, and affordability.
Conclusion. Replacing regular salt with potassium-enriched salt in ready-meals was largely undetectable and well accepted among individuals with T2D. These findings suggest strong potential for incorporating potassium-enriched salt into ready-meals without compromising taste or consumer satisfaction.

Problem: Out of School Hours Care (OSHC), including vacation care, plays a vital role in supporting families and providing opportunities for children’s learning, growth, and social and emotional development. However, the food provided to more than 40,000 children in WA across OSHC settings is often suboptimal. Many services face challenges such as limited time and food preparation facilities, budget constraints, and limited nutrition knowledge among educators.

What you did: A mixed-methods approach was used to assess sector needs and inform resource development. Activities included stakeholder engagement (workshops with OSHC staff, n=40; volunteering and site visits during before/after school care and vacation care), partnership meetings (e.g. Department of Communities), menu reviews, and an online survey with OSHC staff (n=76).

Results: Workshops and consultations provided valuable insights into operational realities, educator capacity, and barriers and enablers to healthy food provision. Survey findings identified key challenges, including selective eating (48%), food waste (39%), time constraints (38%), managing food allergies (34%), budget constraints (28%), and sensory issues (26%). In response, Foodcore co-designed a suite of practical tools and resources with the sector, including sample menus, menu checklist, factsheets, budgeting tools, food-based activities, and a shared kitchen checklist. This aimed to increase educator capacity to provide nutritious food by reducing the barriers associated with key challenges in OSHC.

Lessons: Building trusting relationships with OSHC providers enhanced engagement and collaboration. Co-designing tailored, practical resources based on educator needs improved food literacy and supported the creation of healthier OSHC food environments. These findings highlight the importance of partnerships to strengthen the capacity of OSHC services to provide nutritious food and support the wellbeing of children. This project is an Australian Health Promotion Association scholarship, funded by Healthway.

Food insecurity remains a significant public health challenge in Tasmania, disproportionately affecting children and families in low-income and regional communities. Inadequate and inconsistent access to nutritious food contributes to poorer health outcomes, reduced capacity to engage at school, and increased risk of chronic disease across a lifespan. The School Food Matters (SFM) School Lunch Program demonstrates how a universal, school lunch program can act as a structural intervention that supports food security while promoting health equity.

Delivered through cross-sector partnerships between state government, schools, local food producers, and community organisations, the School Lunch Program provides students with a hot nutritionally balanced lunch during the school day. The model focuses on local procurement, kitchen and workforce capacity building, and a co-designed menu development that reflects nutritional standards, community, cultural and dietary needs. Implemented in diverse Tasmanian school settings, the program has shown that universal provision—rather than targeted or means-tested access—reduces stigma, increases participation, and fosters a shared sense of belonging.

Emerging evidence highlights multiple benefits: improved student concentration and readiness to learn; reduced financial and emotional pressure on families; strengthened connections between schools and regional food economies; and enhanced opportunities for food literacy and community engagement. Teachers and school staff report positive shifts in school culture, with the lunch supporting social connection and inclusion.

This presentation will describe the program’s design and implementation approach, including governance structures, stakeholder collaboration, and workforce development strategies. It will also discuss insights from student and family feedback and evaluation strategies around the program. By positioning schools as stable and trusted community settings, universal school lunches such as the School Lunch Program can function as a cornerstone response to food insecurity, contributing to long-term health equity and improved wellbeing for children and families across Tasmania.

Abstract
Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) adversely affects both maternal and child health, particularly during the perinatal period—a time of heightened vulnerability. However, the impact of maternal IPV exposure on breastfeeding outcomes remains understudied, with existing evidence being inconsistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesise current findings on the association between perinatal IPV (P-IPV) and breastfeeding outcomes.
Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across PsycInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, Medline, Cochrane, JBI EBP, CINAHL, Informit, and PubMed between June 15 and August 2, 2024. Peer-reviewed observational studies examining the association between P-IPV and breastfeeding outcomes—such as early initiation, exclusivity, and duration—were included. Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochrane Q test and I² statistic. Publication bias was evaluated through funnel plot inspection and Egger’s test at a 5% significance level. A random effects model was used to compute pooled adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Results: Nineteen observational studies published between 2007 and 2024, encompassing 347,706 mother-child pairs, met the inclusion criteria; 17 were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled analysis of nine studies showed that P-IPV was significantly associated with delayed breastfeeding initiation (AOR: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.14–1.63). Both physical (AOR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.02–1.42) and psychological IPV (AOR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.09–1.74) negatively affected timely breastfeeding initiation. Additionally, nine studies showed that women exposed to P-IPV had higher odds of not exclusively breastfeeding (EBF) at six months (AOR: 1.50; 95% CI: 1.21–1.85), with significant effects observed for both physical (AOR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.18–1.95) and psychological IPV (AOR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.39–1.76).
Conclusion: Perinatal IPV significantly affects breastfeeding initiation and exclusivity. The findings highlight the need for trauma-informed screening and early interventions to support affected women during the perinatal period.

Problem

The North Eastern Public Health Unit (NEPHU) collaborates with local government and other prevention stakeholders, to improve health and wellbeing and prevent chronic disease. Increasing healthy eating and strengthening local food systems is a key area of work, however, terminology and concepts in food systems are not necessarily utilised nor understood consistently across organisations and departments working in this area. This poses a barrier to efficient and effective communication and collaboration to address local food system challenges.

What we did

This work aimed to build an understanding of commonly used terms and concepts in food systems by creating a directory of key words. We reviewed published literature identified through searching Scopus, Informit and ProQuest. Grey literature was identified through a targeted online search. Key terms were extracted from included documents.

Results

Twenty-two peer-reviewed articles and 27 documents from the grey literature were included after screening. A total of 569 key terms were initially extracted, and after removing duplicates, 270 unique key terms were identified. Key terms appearing most often included food security, food insecurity, food systems and food access. Examples of key terms occurring infrequently in the documents reviewed included food democracy, food deserts, and food citizenship. Descriptive analysis of key terms suggested that a broader and more diverse range of key words was evident in the grey literature than the peer-reviewed literature.

Lessons

This literature review is an essential first step in understanding key terminology and concepts used in food systems. It can provide a useful tool for future work, such as consultation and discussion with stakeholders and partners about their understanding and use of key terms in food systems in practice. Cultivating a more universally shared language in food systems may support vital collective work to create healthier and more sustainable local food systems.

Introduction: Chinese immigrants living in Australia migrated from a collectivist to an individualist society, where their perceptions of body weight are likely be challenged, reshaped and negotiated through this cross-cultural experience. Understanding how Chinese Immigrants perceive obesity is vital for designing prevention strategies that are culturally resonant and community-informed.

Method: Guided by social constructivism, this study used semi-structured interviews with photo elicitation to explore beliefs, attitudes, and lived experiences related to obesity. Participants (BMI ≥23) were ethnically Chinese adults living in Australia for over six months, fluent in Mandarin or English. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Reflective thematic analysis was used for data analysis.

Results: Twenty-five (13 females, 12 males) participants were interviewed either in person (n= 18) or virtually (n=7) in their language of choice. Participants originated from Mainland China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and Taiwan. Four themes were generated to reveal both culturally rooted perceptions and those reshaped through post-migration experiences: (a) The body of “others” as a comparative reference. Participants compared themselves not only to fellow Chinese but also to local Australians. Referencing Caucasian body weights helped ease body image stress; (b) Obesity as failure: internalized negative views and moral judgement. Despite exposure to Western norms, some respondents retained Asian moral judgments around weight; (c) Commentary from others as self-monitoring. Most viewed weight-related remarks as reminders or expressions of care; (d) Weight loss is a personal matter and willpower is the key to success. This belief often led participants to adopt extreme, quick-fix, unsustainable weight management strategies.

Conclusion & implications: This study highlights how cultural identity, social connection, and migration shapes perceptions of obesity. Focussing on community voices challenges dominant narratives and underscores the need for empathetic, culturally grounded prevention approaches that build trust and foster engagement.

Problem
INFANT is an evidence-based early-years program that improves nutrition and active play. However, delivery through Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services, primarily in English, can limit engagement for migrant and refugee families due to language, access and cultural barriers. In Melbourne’s west, where over 40% of households speak a language other than English, addressing this gap is vital for equitable program reach.

What we did
In 2023, Western Public Health Unit (WPHU) partnered with Deakin University to translate INFANT resources into the six most commonly spoken languages other than English in Melbourne’s west. In 2024, WPHU partnered with the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health (MCWH) to establish an in-language delivery model. Bilingual health educators speaking nine community languages completed Department of Health funded INFANT facilitator training and were further supported with tailored delivery guidance and local referral pathways. Leveraging existing community networks, educators promoted translated resources, delivered in-language INFANT sessions and supported families to navigate the app, access sessions and understand key prevention messages.

Results
MCWH engaged 103 families from 12 countries through in-language sessions and distributed over 90 translated resources. Participants reported they had not previously received such practical early-years information and requested more frequent and earlier (antenatal) support. Qualitative feedback indicated increased confidence in feeding and active play, with families valuing sessions delivered by trusted bilingual educators. A second phase partnership in 2025 was initiated to train more educators, deliver additional community-based sessions and strengthen connections with MCH services to embed in-language delivery.

Lessons
Cross-sector partnerships are critical for advancing equity in evidence-based health promotion. By combining Deakin’s research expertise, WPHU’s regional coordination and systems alignment, and MCWH’s bilingual workforce and trusted community networks, INFANT reached families who typically do not engage with MCH services. This model provides a practical approach to embedding equity into early-years prevention.

Introduction: Health risks associated with excess body weight (EBW) are well evidenced. The rising prevalence of EBW is outpacing prevention. Social networks have a significant influence on weight-related behaviours (WRBs) through various mechanisms. Health behaviour can be impacted by the social networks in which individuals interact. Cultural background determines the way social networks impact health behaviours such as dietary choices and physical activity. Prevention strategies often fail to account for these social and cultural contexts. The increased susceptibility of young women to EBW and its associated long-term health risks underscores the importance of implementing context-specific strategies.
Methods: This qualitative study explored the association between social relationships and young women’s EBW in Bangladesh. Thirty-six young women participated in focus groups or in-depth interviews with questions and prompts about family, friend, and acquaintance influencing their weight and WRBs.
Results: Four themes emerged which represented young women’s experience of social relationships with family, friends, and acquaintances and how these relationships influenced their weight and WRBs. These themes were (1) Social expectations: Shaping health habits according to family traditions and social norms, (2) Peer pressure: Conforming to trendy food and activities, (3) Social mirroring: Copying others’ health habits without noticing and (4) Social grouping: Forming social relationships according to similar health habits. The findings revealed family, friends, and acquaintances were influential relationships with a meaningful impact on body weight. This influence operated through three social processes: social contagion, social capital, and social selection.
Conclusion: These findings underscore the role of close social relationships on WRBs among young women, highlighting the need to focus on social relationships in the development of public health strategies to address the increasing prevalence of EBW and associated non-communicable disease burden. By leveraging these social cues through culturally sensitive interventions, prevention efforts can become more sustainable.