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Objective: To explore perceptions of dietary recommendations for fruit and vegetables, and barriers and opportunities for increasing consumption. Design: Qualitative study with an experiential component. Setting: Older adults' households. Participants: Six focus groups with 38 Australian adults aged 50 to 64 years who reported low vegetable consumption. Intervention: Week 1: focus group including demonstration of recommended fruit and vegetable servings; week 2: delivery of a week's supply of fruit and vegetables and recipes; week 3: follow-up focus group. Variables Measured: Perceptions of a healthful diet, fruit and vegetable recommendations, barriers to consumption, and reactions to the food delivery and recipes. Analysis: Qualitative, thematic analysis. Results: Participants were unfamiliar with serving recommendations. Barriers to consumption were as follows: perceptions that vegetables are eaten only with evening meals, preference for eating meat, believing that recommended quantities were too big, and a lack of preparation time. The delivery had a positive impact on some (especially low fruit consumers), for whom the availability of appealing fruit served as a prompt for consumption. Conclusions and Implications: Possible strategies for enabling consumers to achieve adequate fruit and vegetable consumption are education about the recommended number and size of servings and distribution of fruit and vegetables relative to meat and carbohydrates, encouragement to spread fruit and vegetable consumption over the day, and promoting the appealing sensory attributes of fruit and vegetables. KEY WORDS: fruit, vegetables, barriers, diet

• Health warnings with graphic images perceived as more effective than text-only health warnings. • Negatively framed warnings perceived as more effective than positively framed warnings. • Negatively framed warnings produced stronger negative emotions than positively framed warnings. • Positive message framing improved motivation to be healthy more than negative framing. Food product health warnings may be a valuable intervention strategy for helping reduce obesity rates and the negative health outcomes associated with consuming an unhealthy diet. Research into the efficacy of food product health warnings has shown promising effects on consumers' beliefs and behaviour, but existing research has typically featured a single or limited number of simple, text-only warnings. Two studies are presented that tested the influence of text-only and text-and-graphic, positively and negatively framed health warnings on perceived efficacy, negative affect and motivation to change behaviour. Using a between-subjects design, Study 1 found that negatively framed health warnings and text-and-graphic health warnings produced more negative emotional responses than positively framed and text-only health warnings. Study 2 then featured the highest rated message topics from Study 1. Using a within-subjects design, Study 2 found that participants rated text-and-graphic health warnings as more effective than text-only warnings, and negatively framed warnings as more effective than positively framed warnings, though all warning groups scored above the scale mid-point on perceived efficacy. Negatively framed warnings produced stronger negative emotional responses, while positively framed warnings produced stronger feelings of motivation to change behaviour. Results indicate that food product health warnings were perceived as capable of effectively promoting behavioural change. While negatively framed warnings were seen as most effective, positively framed warnings may also be effective, possibly through a different persuasive pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background As a public health intervention, front-of-pack labels (FoPLs) have the potential to reach large numbers of consumers and promote healthier food choices. Of the different FoPLs, those that summarize a product's overall nutritional profile tend to be most effective in guiding healthier choices. However, information is lacking as to whether FoPLs are as effective when nutrient or health claims also appear on-pack. Objective The aim of this study was to examine how the choice of foods of varying levels of healthfulness (less healthy, moderately healthy, and healthier) is affected by the appearance of various FoPLs (Daily Intake Guide, Multiple Traffic Lights, Health Star Rating) when shown in combination with different claim conditions (no claim, nutrient claim, general-level health claim, and higher-level health claim). Design Adults and children (n = 2069) completed a discrete-choice experiment online. Respondents were shown 8 choice sets, each containing 4 alternatives of the same food type (cookies, cornflakes, pizza, or yogurt) of varying levels of healthfulness and were asked which product they would likely purchase (or they could select none). Respondents were randomly assigned to view 1 of the 3 FoPLs across all choice sets. Claim type and healthfulness varied within choice sets in accordance with a D-efficient design. Results The probability of choosing a healthy product and avoiding an unhealthy product was greatest when only an FoPL (especially the Health Star Rating) appeared on-pack. The addition of a nutrient or health claim did not affect the likelihood of picking healthier products but did increase the likelihood of selecting less healthy foods across all FoPL conditions. Conclusions FoPLs are most effective in helping consumers make better food choices when nutrient and health claims are not present. Policies are required to control how nutrient and health claims are applied to less healthy foods. This trial was registered as ACTRN12617000015347 (www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Resgistration/TrialReview.aspx?id=372055&isReview=true). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Assess the effect of counter-advertisements on parents’ appraisals of unhealthy foods featuring front-of-package promotions (FOPPs). Design: A 2 × 2 × 5 between-subjects Web-based experiment. Parents were randomly shown an advertisement (counter-advertisement challenging FOPP/control advertisement) and then a pair of food products from the same category: an unhealthy product featuring an FOPP (nutrient content claim/sports celebrity endorsement) and a healthier control product with no FOPP. Setting: Australia. Participants: A total ot 1,269 Australian-based parents of children aged 5–12 years recruited from an online panel. Main Outcome Measures: Parents nominated which product they would prefer to buy and which they thought was healthier, then rated the unhealthy product and FOPP on various characteristics. Analysis: Differences between advertisement conditions were assessed using logistic regression (product choice tasks) and analysis of variance tests (ratings of unhealthy product and FOPP). Results. Compared with parents who saw a control advertisement, parents who saw a counter-advertisement perceived unhealthy products featuring FOPPs as less healthy, expressed weaker intentions for buying such products, and were more likely to read the nutrition facts panel before nominating choices (all P < .001). Conclusions and Implications: Counter-advertising may help reduce the misleading influence of unhealthy food marketing and improve the accuracy of parents’ evaluations of how nutritious promoted food products are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to test whether counter-advertisements (i.e. messages contesting industry marketing) make pre-adolescent children less susceptible to the influence of food promotions. Since children have lower media literacy levels due to their immature cognitive abilities, specific research questions explored were: (1) whether the effectiveness of counter-ads is contingent on children having understood them; and (2) whether counter-ads may be detrimental when they are misinterpreted. A between-subjects experimental design using a web-based methodology was employed. 1351 grade 5-6 students (mean age 11 years) from schools located in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia participated. Participants were randomly shown an animated web banner advertisement (counter-ad challenging front-of-package promotion or control ad) and a pair of food packages from the same product category comprising an unhealthy product featuring a front-of-package promotion (nutrient content claim or sports celebrity endorsement) and a healthier control pack without a front-of-package promotion. Responses to the assigned advertisement, choice of product (healthy versus unhealthy) and ratings of the unhealthy product and front-of-package promotion on various nutritional and image-related attributes were recorded for each child. Sixty-six percent of children who viewed a counter-ad understood its main message. These children rated the front-of-package promotion as less believable and rated the unhealthy product bearing the front-of-package promotion as less healthy compared to the control group. However, children who misunderstood the counter-ad rated the unhealthy product bearing a front-of-package promotion as more healthy and rated the front-of-package promotion more favourably than those who correctly understood the counter-ad. Counter-advertising may have unintended consequences when misunderstood. If public health organizations or government pursue counter-advertising as a strategy to reduce the negative influence of unhealthy food marketing among children, caution is needed in designing counter-ads to guard against possible contradictory effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Three case studies show contrasting ways to furthering students’ learning in writing. [•] Case 1: Teacher as gate-keeper and arbiter of the evaluative process. [•] Case 1: Student-writers passive recipients of teacher judgements and directives. [•] Cases 2 and 3: Teachers bring student-writers into ‘the guild’ of writers. [•] Cases 2 and 3: Students appraise and revise peers’ and own texts, becoming self-monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Trichuris muris is a laboratory model for the human whipworm Trichuris trichiura which infects approximately 1 billion people in tropical and sub-tropical countries. The development of a vaccine would control trichuriasis by promoting the acquisition of immunity during childhood, thereby reducing faecal egg output by the community into their environment. Resistance to T. muris, defined as expulsion of the parasite prior to patency, requires the development of a T helper 2 (Th2) response during a primary infection. To our knowledge this is the first study to describe the protective immune response in the peripheral lymph nodes (PLN), mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) and colonic mucosa following s.c. vaccination against T. muris. Susceptible AKR mice were either vaccinated with T. muris excretory–secretory product (ES) in incomplete Freund’s adjuvant (IFA) (ES/IFA) or injected with PBS in IFA (PBS/IFA) and for protection experiments were infected with embryonated infective T. muris eggs 10days later. The ES/IFA vaccine induced the proliferation of PLN cells and their production of Th2 cytokines and the Th1-associated cytokine IFN-γ. Following a challenge infection, the ES/IFA vaccination offered susceptible mice complete protection. While MLN-derived IFN-γ was produced by infected mice following either ES/IFA vaccination or PBS/IFA, the protection of susceptible mice by ES/IFA was characterised by the production of MLN-derived Th2 cytokines. Goblet cell hyperplasia and the influx and alternative activation of macrophages were observed locally in the gut post-challenge infection. The rate of epithelial turnover did not appear to be increased by vaccination, suggesting that there are differences in the mechanisms of expulsion between ‘natural resistance’ and ‘vaccinated resistance’. High levels of serum IgG1 and cell-bound IgG1 in the colon of mice protected by the ES/IFA vaccine suggest that antibody may be involved in vaccination-induced worm expulsion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Television (TV) food advertising has attracted criticism for its potential role in promoting unhealthy dietary practices among children. Content analyses indicate junk food advertising is prevalent on Australian children''s TV; healthy eating is rarely promoted. This paper presents (a) a cross-sectional survey examining associations between children''s regular TV viewing habits and their food-related attitudes and behaviour; and (b) an experiment assessing the impact of varying combinations of TV advertisements (ads) for unhealthy and healthy foods on children''s dietary knowledge, attitudes and intentions. The experimental conditions simulated possible models for regulating food ads on children''s TV. Participants were 919 grade five and six students from schools in Melbourne, Australia. The survey showed that heavier TV use and more frequent commercial TV viewing were independently associated with more positive attitudes toward junk food; heavier TV use was also independently associated with higher reported junk food consumption. The experiment found that ads for nutritious foods promote selected positive attitudes and beliefs concerning these foods. Findings are discussed in light of methodological issues in media effects research and their implications for policy and practice. It is concluded that changing the food advertising environment on children''s TV to one where nutritious foods are promoted and junk foods are relatively unrepresented would help to normalize and reinforce healthy eating. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Unhealthy, energy-dense nutrient-poor foods and beverages are heavily promoted through sport sponsorship. This naturalistic trial assessed whether exposing young adult spectators to various types of counter-advertising (CA) before watching an unhealthy food sponsored elite sporting event could diminish sponsorship effects and increase support for restrictions on sponsorship. Young adults (ages 18-29 years) who planned to watch the Australian Football League (AFL) Grand Final were recruited through an online panel and randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (A) control (neutral advertisement); (B) anti-industry CA (critiquing unhealthy food industry sponsorship of sport); (C) anti-product CA (critiquing the association of sports stars with unhealthy food); or (D) negative health effects CA (highlighting negative health consequences of unhealthy food consumption). Participants (N = 1316) completed a pre-test questionnaire and viewed their assigned CA online 1–3 days before watching the 2017 AFL Grand Final, which featured unhealthy food sponsorship. Participants who reported watching the AFL Grand Final (n = 802) answered post-test measures within five days of the event. Results indicated that participants found the anti-industry CA more believable, attention-grabbing, reassuring and encouraging than the anti-product CA. The anti-industry CA promoted less favourable attitudes to sponsor brands, the anti-product CA promoted reduced intentions to purchase the fast-food sponsor brand, and the negative health effects CA reduced preferences for fast food in general compared to the control condition. Anti-industry CA may detract from favourable attitudes to unhealthy food sponsor brands and negative health effects CA may detract from intentions to consume fast food in the face of unhealthy food sponsorship exposure. Such interventions may require higher dosage levels than applied in the present study to bolster spectators' resistance to the surfeit of unhealthy food sport sponsorship. • The anti-industry counter-ad reduced favourable attitudes to unhealthy food sponsors. • The anti-product counter-ad reduced intention to purchase the fast-food sponsor brand. • The negative health effects CA reduced preferences for fast food in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on Hattie and Timperley's (2007) feedback model, the current study explored how feedback at the process and self-regulation levels impacted the development of EFL learners' self-regulated writing strategies. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and artefacts from nine participants in a Chinese university writing classroom. Data analysis revealed that students increased their goal-oriented planning for the writing task and the monitoring of their learning process in metacognitive learning activities. Changes in cognitive writing strategies for the enhancement of strategic text processing were apparent, as well as the development and use of strategies for processing learning resources. While students heightened their interest in the multiple-draft practice, developed self-reinforcement in motivational regulation strategies, and became more proactive in feedback inquiry, they remained less active in peer learning. The findings suggest that process and self-regulatory oriented feedback can facilitate EFL writers to develop and deploy self-regulated writing strategies. A number of theoretical and pedagogical implications are offered based on the findings of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Taste and price were the dominant food choice factors across the total sample. • Four distinct consumer segments were identified based on food choice criteria. • Segment membership was predicted by demographic and grocery buyer characteristics. • Perceived diet healthiness and nutrition knowledge did not predict group allocation. Food choices determine consumers' dietary and energy intakes, and in turn their risk of obesity and diet-related diseases. Factors affecting food choices are complex, varied, and inter-connected. The aims of this study were to assess the relative importance of four factors influencing food choices (taste, price, healthiness, and convenience) and identify segments of consumers according to their ratings. Australian consumers (n = 1,558) aged 18 + years completed an online survey assessing a range of factors influencing their food choices, including the perceived importance of taste, price, healthiness, and convenience. Latent profile analysis was undertaken to identify segments, with bivariate analyses then conducted to describe the differences between the derived segments. Overall, taste was reported to be the dominant factor determining food choices (Mean (M) = 4.42; SD = 0.72; z-score = 0.43), followed by price (M = 4.19; SD = 0.78; z-score = 0.15), healthiness (M = 4.07; SD = 0.82, z-score = 0.00), and finally convenience (M = 3.79; SD = 0.82, z-score = -0.35). However, there were variations in absolute and relative ratings across the four identified segments. Two segments (' High involvement ' and ' Taste focused ', together accounting for 53% of the sample) rated taste highest, and the other two segments (' Moderate involvement' and ' Indifferent ', 47% of the sample) rated price highest. Age, gender, residential location, and responsibility for grocery shopping were associated with segment membership. Understanding the dominant drivers of food choices across different consumer segments is useful for the development of tailored nutrition promotion messages and interventions to address obesity and other diet-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment for Learning (AfL) is a student-centered and highly interactive approach to learning and assessment and is believed to be able to enhance learning outcomes and learner autonomy. Given its potential effectiveness, the Chinese government has introduced assessment reform initiatives, requiring teachers to incorporate AfL strategies into university EFL classes. Nonetheless, little is known about how Chinese EFL teachers view AfL and whether they have attempted to enact the associated AfL strategies. Utilising a quantitative survey, the extent to which university EFL teachers valued and utilised AfL strategies in their classrooms was explored. To this end, the Assessment for Learning Strategy Questionnaire for Teachers (AfLSQ-T) was distributed to 495 Chinese university EFL teachers. After data-cleaning, a sample comprised of 402 questionnaires was obtained. Results indicated that respondent teachers ascribed little value to self-led AfL strategies, and they also scarcely implemented them. Our findings highlight the need to pay attention to developing assessment-literate EFL teachers in order to enhance their assessment effectiveness, particularly with regard to implementing AfL. • 495 EFL teachers were surveyed on AfL practices and the values they ascribed. • Respondent teachers ascribed little value to self-led AfL strategies. • These teachers scarcely implemented peer- and self assessment. • Assessment-literacy should be a key component in EFL programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degree to which different front-of-pack labels (FoPLs) can assist consumers to make healthy choices seems to depend on the extent to which the FoPLs provide an interpretation of the nutrition information presented. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of three FoPLs that vary by interpretive content in allowing consumers to discriminate between products of varying healthiness. Australian consumers (n = 2058) rated the perceived healthiness of mock food pack images that varied according to: nutritional profile (healthy, moderately healthy, unhealthy); FoPL (Daily Intake Guide (DIG), Multiple Traffic Lights (MTL), Health Star Rating (HSR), or control); and food type (cookies, cornflakes, pizza, yoghurt). Respondents were most accurate at differentiating unhealthy products from healthy (p < 0.001) and moderately healthy products (p = 0.015) when the HSR appeared on packs. The MTL was marginally (p = 0.052) effective at helping respondents distinguish between healthy and unhealthy products. When the DIG or no FoPL was used, however, respondents were unable to discriminate between a healthy and an unhealthy nutritional profile. Findings indicate that the HSR is more effective than other commonly used FoPLs in assisting consumers to accurately evaluate the healthiness of food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of studies examining the effect of nutrition information on food packets (such as the nutrition information panel (NIP), front-of-pack labels (FoPLs) and health claims) have examined each in isolation, even though they often occur together. This study investigated the relationship between FoPLs and health claims since (i) they both appear on the front of packs and typically receive more attention from consumers than the NIP, (ii) they can convey contradictory messages (i.e., health claims provide information on nutrients that are beneficial to health while FoPLs provide information on nutrients associated with increased health risks) and (iii) there is currently scant research on how consumers trade off between these two sources of information. Ten focus groups ( n = 85) explored adults’ and children’s reactions when presented with both a FoPL (the Daily Intake Guide, Multiple Traffic Lights, or the Health Star Rating) and a health claim (nutrient content, general-level-, or high-level). A particular focus was participants’ processing of discrepant information. Participants reported that health claims were more likely to be considered during product evaluations if they were perceived to be trustworthy, relevant and informative. Trust and ease of interpretation were most important for FoPLs, which were more likely than health claims to meet criteria and be considered during product evaluation (especially the Health Star Rating and Multiple Traffic Lights). Results indicate that consumers generally find FoPLs more useful than health claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people overestimate the amount of alcohol that increases their risk of harm and so may not perceive any need to change their drinking behaviour. Several countries have developed low-risk drinking guidelines, yet awareness of these guidelines remains low. Furthermore, mass media campaigns about alcohol-related harms may have limited impact if people do not perceive their current consumption as potentially harmful. Integrating drinking guidelines into media campaigns about alcohol's harms can concurrently provide drinkers with information about low-risk drinking levels and compelling reasons to comply. Our aim was to build understanding of the effectiveness of messages about the long-term harms of drinking and low-risk drinking guidelines, by testing the mediating effects of estimates of harmful drinking levels and attitudes towards drinking alcohol on subsequent intentions and behaviours. In an online experiment conducted in 2016, n = 1156 Australian adult monthly drinkers were randomly assigned to view advertisements for non-alcohol products (NON-ALC; control), advertisements featuring long-term harms of alcohol (LTH), or LTH advertisements plus a guideline message (LTH + G). Immediately following exposure, we measured estimates of harmful drinking levels and attitudes towards drinking alcohol. One week later, we measured intentions to drink less and behavioural compliance with the guideline. Compared to NON-ALC advertisements, exposure to LTH + G advertisements increased (i) the proportion of respondents who correctly estimated harmful drinking levels, which in turn, strengthened intentions to drink less (42% of the total effect was mediated), and (ii) negative attitudes, which in turn, also increased intentions to drink less (35% mediated) and behavioural compliance (24% mediated). Compared to NON-ALC, LTH advertisements increased negative attitudes, which in turn strengthened intentions to drink less (53% mediated). When paired with effective alcohol harm reduction television advertisements, messages promoting low-risk drinking guidelines can increase drinkers' intentions to reduce their alcohol consumption and compliance with low-risk drinking guidelines. • Uses experimental design with one-week follow-up to examine message effects. • Correct estimates of low-risk drinking levels mediate effects on intentions. • Negative attitudes towards drinking mediate effects on intentions and behaviour. • Low-risk drinking guideline messages should be added to the end of advertisements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]