Interventions and programmes to support the development of preschool children's social and emotional skills are commonly used in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. Research suggests the physical and sensory ECEC environment can influence children's social and emotional development. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the…

Many children start school developmentally vulnerable and struggle to keep up with their peers. Children experiencing socioeconomic-disadvantage are at higher risk of poor developmental outcomes. A high-quality education and wrap-around community-service model, such as the Doveton Model, at Doveton College, Australia, may improve outcomes for…

The study aimed to enhance young children's knowledge of healthy eating, active play and environmental sustainability through play-based activities developed by nursery educators in Crete, Greece. Intervention group children received 4-6 weeks of curriculum activities, and their knowledge about healthy eating, active play and sustainability…

A growing body of research evidence suggests universal (Tier 1) Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) interventions in early childhood education and care settings can improve children's social and emotional development. Less is known however about the effectiveness of targeted (Tier 2) programmes for preschoolers experiencing social, emotional or…

Mental health and developmental challenges that emerge in early childhood can be associated with difficulty in social interactions and behavioural regulation. With educational policies increasingly promoting inclusion in early learning settings, educators are being called upon to support children's social-emotional competence through…

High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) programmes can strengthen the social, emotional and cognitive skills that are crucial for future learning and wellbeing. Teacher-child interactions are the most vital component of ECEC service quality in terms of children's social-emotional functioning. However, many children are not…

Supporting parent-child relationships is vital for children's social and emotional development, future health and well-being. As children now spend significant amounts of time attending early childhood education and care settings, it is opportune that interventions be designed for educators to promote and nurture parent-child relationships. The…

Preschool children's interest in popular culture is linked to many determinants of obesity development including branded energy-dense foods and sedentary play using digital technologies. In addition, highly packaged foods and throwaway toys reinforce unsustainable environmental habits encouraged by immersive marketing systems. Interrupting the…

The primary aim of the present study was to cross-sectionally examine the associations between maternal psychosocial variables, child feeding practices, and preschooler body mass index z-score (BMI-z) in children (aged 2-4 years). A secondary aim was to examine differences in child weight outcomes between mothers scoring above and below specified…

We sought to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of a preschool/kindergarten curriculum intervention designed to increase 4-year-old children's knowledge of healthy eating, active play and the sustainability consequences of their food and toy choices. Ninety intervention and 65 control parent/child…

Partnering early childhood education and care (ECEC) and the home together may be more effective in combating obesogenic risk factors in preschool children. Thus, an evaluation of ECEC obesity prevention interventions with a parental component was conducted, exploring parental engagement and its effect on obesity and healthy lifestyle outcomes. A…

Body image research with young children has typically examined their body satisfaction and overlooked developmental theories pertaining to their emergent body-knowledge. Though existing research suggests that preschoolers do demonstrate anti-fat attitudes and weight-related stigmatisation, body dissatisfaction can be difficult to assess in…

The aim of this paper was to compare the recruitment strategies of two recent studies that focused on the parental influences on childhood obesity during the preschool years. The first study was a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of the Mind, Exercise, Nutrition?…?Do It! 2-4 obesity prevention programme and the second was a longitudinal cohort…