Chair's Welcome

Welcome to the second edition of the ISBNPA Young Adults Special Interest Group Newsletter.

As you’ll see below, we’ve recently welcomed two new communication co-chairs who will be curating the latest news and relevant resources for our SIG. Our members can expect to receive quarterly newsletters in the year ahead. Please remember to add the Young Adult SIG when you renew your ISBNPA membership. If you know of colleagues with interests and expertise in young adults’ (16-35 years) behavioral nutrition, physical activity, sedentary behavior and / or sleep, encourage them to do the same and / or they can join our mailing list here.

Dr. Melinda Hutchesson, Chair of ISBNPA Young Adult SIG

Quarterly Spotlight

In this issue of our newsletter, we’re excited to spotlight our first ever SIG publication award winners! Below, they share their thoughts on the most important takeaway message from their winning publications.

Dr. Rachael Taylor is an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) and early career researcher at the University of Newcastle. She has experience in analysing dietary intake in young adults, women of childbearing age and infants as well as conducting systematic reviews. Dr Taylor has 17 published journal articles (53% as 1st author, 59% in Q1 journals). Rachael won the Best Publication Award in our Early Career Researcher Category for her paper entitled “Do disparities exist between national food group recommendations and the dietary intakes of contemporary young adults?”

Main takeaway in Dr. Taylor’s own words: Findings from this study highlighted that dietary patterns of Australian young adults (18-24 years) do not align with the national recommendations. Dietary interventions are needed for young adults that aim to improve the consumption of all food groups rather than solely targeting fruit and vegetable consumption.

Olivia Alliott is a PhD student in the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, she is funded by the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR). She is interested in adolescent health and health inequalities, specifically in relation to physical activity. Olivia won the Best Publication Award in our Post Graduate Student Category for her paper entitled “Do adolescents' experiences of the barriers to and facilitators of physical activity differ by socioeconomic position? A systematic review of qualitative evidence”

Main takeaway in Olivia’s own words: Our qualitative review shows striking differences in adolescents’ experiences of barriers to and facilitators of physical activity across socioeconomic groups. Socioeconomically deprived adolescents focused primarily on the barriers they experienced. Programmes to increase physical activity among disadvantaged young people should tackle the barriers they themselves identify.

Social and Events

The best way to stay up to date on all things ISBNPA Young Adult SIG is to follow us on Twitter

Connect with us at the 2022 ISBNPA Annual Meeting

Mark your calendar now for our SIG meeting, which will be held Friday, May 20th at 12:05 (US conference time)
For those of you unable to attend the conference in person, we are trying to arrange to hold the meeting as a hybrid session to accommodate those attending virtually
In our next newsletter we will highlight the sessions relevant to young adults and announce the finalists for the SIG presentation awards

New Committee Members

Meet the newest committee members of our Young Adult SIG Team!

Ruth Brady (Communication Co-chair) is a PhD candidate at The University of Queensland and University of Exeter on the QUEX joint PhD program. Ruth’s PhD is focusing on understanding differences in accumulation of device-measured physical in adults: Does one size fit all?

Dr. Jessica LaRose (Communication Co-chair) is an Associate Professor of Health Behavior and Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. Her program of research focuses on understanding the interplay of behavioral, psychological, and environmental determinants of obesity and cardiometabolic risk, and developing novel and sustainable interventions to promote physical and psychological health, with a particular emphasis on the transition from adolescence into early adulthood.

Recent Publications

Don’t miss these new publications relevant to young adults’ health and wellness. Have a new publication you’d like us to feature on Twitter or our next newsletter? Email our communications chairs here.

Babaeer, Lena, Michalis Stylianou, and Sjaan R. Gomersall. "Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Educational Outcomes Among Australian University Students: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations." Journal of Physical Activity and Health 1.aop (2022): 1-12 Find here

Willmott TJ, Mathew A, Luck E, Rundle-Thiele S, Carins J, Vincze L, Williams L, Ball L. Participatory design application in obesity prevention targeting young adults and adolescents: a mixed-methods systematic scoping review protocol. Syst Rev. 2022 Mar 22;11(1):51. doi: 10.1186/s13643-022-01900-z. Find here

Hutchesson MJ, Whatnall MC, Patterson AJ. On-campus food purchasing behaviours and satisfaction of Australian university students. Health Promot J Austr. 2021 Oct 30. doi: 10.1002/hpja.551. Find here

Hayes JF, Tate DF, Espeland MA, LaRose JG, Gorin AA, Lewis CE, Jelalian E, Bahnson J, Wing RR; Study of Novel Approaches to Weight Gain Prevention (SNAP) Research Group. Patterns of weight change in a weight gain prevention study for young adults. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2021 Nov;29(11):1848-1856. doi: 10.1002/oby.23268. Find here

Hayes JF, Tate DF, Espeland MA, LaRose JG, Gorin AA, Lewis CE, Jelalian E, Bahnson J, Dunsiger SI, Wing RR; Study of Novel Approaches to Weight Gain Prevention (SNAP) Research Group. Making large changes or small changes to prevent weight gain in young adulthood: which is preferred and by whom? Transl Behav Med. 2021 Dec 14;11(12):2081-2090. doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibab099. Find here

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