hand hygiene promotion contributes to a reduced infection rate among very low-birth weight infants

Hand hygiene in hospital settings is needed to reduce hospital infections. Adequate hand hygiene is seen as the most important intervention to prevent nosocomial infections. Compliance with hand hygiene protocols needs continuous promotion and facilitation. In a paper just published in the American Journal of Infection Control, with Dr. Onno Helder as first author, we describe a study of the effectiveness of sequential hand hygiene promotion among hospital workers in an intensive care unit in a children's hospital.
We conducted an observational study with an interrupted time series analysis of the occurrence of nosocomial bloodstream infections (NBSIs) among very low-birth weight (VLBW) infants. Interventions consisted of an education program, gain-framed (i.e. the positive effects of hand hygiene was communicated) screen saver messages, and an infection prevention week with an introduction on consistent glove use.
Almost 2,000 VLBW infants were studied admitted between 2002 and  2011. The proportion of infants with ≥1 NBSI decreased from 47.6%-21.2%; the number of NBSIs per 1,000 patient days decreased from 16.8-8.9. Pre-
intervention, the number of NBSIs significantly increased, while after the first intervention a significantly declining trend in NBSIs was observed, which stayed at this lower level during the sequential interventions.
We concluded that continuous sequential hand hygiene promotion contributes to a sustained low NBSI rate.

Successful DEDIPAC full consortium meeting

Yesterday and today the first full consortium meeting of the determinants of diet and physical activity knowledge hub (DEDIPAC) was held. On Thursday a plenary program informed the 175 DEDIPAC partners who had come to Amsterdam for this meeting about the progress made so far and were further inspired by short keynote speeches on ambulatory assessment of physical activity, sedentary and dietary behaviour and their determinants by Ulrich Ebner-Priemer, the president of the society for ambulatory assessment, on a paradigm shift in research on determinants towards systems-models of health behaviour change, by Stef Kremers, and on the INFORMAS framework for food environment and policy monitoring and benchmarking by Stefanie Vandervijvere. On the Thursday afternoon and Friday a series of workshops were conducted to further the work on DEDIPAC's three thematic areas, i.e. harmonisation of measurement and monitoring of diet, physical activity, sedentary behaviour and their determinants, gaining further insights in multilevel determinants of these behaviours, and evaluation of multilevel interventions and policies to promote and facilitate healthier diets, more physical activity and less sedentariness.

DEDIPAC website launched

The DEterminants of DIet and Physical Activity knowledge hub is the first joint action of the European Joint Programming Initiative for a Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life in Europe. The DEDIPAC KH is a multidisciplinary consortium of scientists from 46 research centres in 12 countries across Europe. The main objective of DEDIPAC is to understand the determinants of dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours and to translate this knowledge into a more effective promotion of a healthy diet and physical activity. DEDIPAC is now underway for a few months, and next week the firts full consortium meeting will be held in Amsterdam, at the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research of the VU University and its medical center. The website for DEDIPAC was launched this week in preparation of the meeting.

Correlates of Active and Non-Active Gaming Among Dutch Adolescents

Playing video games contributes substantially to sedentary behavior in youth. A new generation of video games—active games—may be an alternative to such sedentary games to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior. In order to promote active gaming, insight is needed in the correlates and potential determinants of such active gaming. In a paper just published in the e-journal JMIR serious games, with Monique Simons as first author, we reported the results of a survey among Dutch 12-16 y old youth to examine personal, social, and game-related correlates of both active and non-active gaming in adolescents.
Active gaming was significantly associated with a more positive attitude toward active gaming , a less positive attitude toward non-active games, more habitual gaming and having siblings and friends  who spend more time on active gaming, and a somewhat lower game engagement. Non-active gaming  was significantly associated with a more positive attitude toward non-active gaming, a stronger habit regarding gaming , having friends who spend more time on non-active gaming , and a more positive image of a non-active gamer.

Active video games as a tool to prevent excessive weight gain in adolescents: rationale, design and methods of a randomized controlled trial

Excessive body weight, low physical activity and excessive sedentary time in youth are major public health concerns. A new generation of video games, the ones that require physical activity to play the games -i.e. active games- may be a promising alternative to traditional non-active games to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviours in youth. In a paper just published in the open access e-journal BMC Public Health, with Monique Simons as first author, we describe the design of a study evaluating the effects of a family oriented active game intervention. The study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT), with  adolescents aged 12 - 16 years old who spend much time in non-active gaming activities. The intervention is that they are provided with active game consoles, and active games as well as information and encouragements to promote use of console and games, and to exchange passive gaming for active gaming. We look at changes in body weight and composition and changes in physical activity, sedentary and dietary behaviours. In addition, a process evaluation is conducted, assessing the sustainability of the active games, enjoyment et cetera.

Obesogenic environments: a systematic review

Our 'physical' environment- i.e. the availability and accessibility of opportunities to be physically active and eat healthy foods- may be of influence on our odds to become overweight or not. E.g. in an environment that offers many opportunities for physical activity, and in which the health food choice is the default food choice the risk of gaining unnecessary weight may be slimmer than in a car friendly and fast food environment. Understanding which aspects of this physical environment may be of influence on adult obesity is thus important for public health and urban planning. We have conducted an updated review of the scientific literature on associations of physical environmental factors with adult weight status, in which we have explicitly taken the methodological quality of the reviewed studies into account. This study was just published online in BMC Public Health. Joreintje Mackenbach was first authors on this paper, and the study was part of the European Commission-funded SPOTLIGHT project. Based on the available scientific literature, urban sprawl and land use mix are consistently associated with weight status. However this available evidence is based on North American studies only.

Measured sedentary time and physical activity during the school day

In a study just published online in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, with Dr. Maartje van Stralen as first author, we investigated the time devoted to sedentary and physical activities during school hours in five European countries and to examine differences according to country, sex, ethnicity, parental education and weight status. The study was part of the ENERGY project. More than 1000 10-12 y old primary schoolchildren in Belgium, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Switzerland wore accelerometers for at least six consecutive days. Only weekdays were used for this study to calculate the percentages of school-time spent in sedentary activities and moderate to vigorous intensity activity.
European schoolchildren spent on average 65% of their time at school in sedentary activities and 5% on moderate to vigorous intensity activities, with small differences between countries. Girls spent somewhat more school-time in sedentary activities than boys, and spent less time in moderate to vigorous intensity activities. Overweight children spent significantly less time in moderate to vigorous intensity activities than normal weight children. Parental education or ethnicity were not associated with time spent in sedentary or physical activities. European schoolchildren thus spend a small amount of their school-time in moderate to vigorous intensity activities and a large amount in sedentary activities, with small but significant differences across countries.