Associate Professor Leanne Brown

© 2019 National Rural Health Alliance Ltd. Objective: To describe and compare body composition and fat distribution of Australian women 18¿44 years from an urban and rural location. Design: Cross-sectional survey and collection of anthropometric and body composition measurements. Setting: Newcastle and Tamworth in New South Wales. Participants: Convenience sample of women recruited through media and community. Main outcome measures: Weight, height, waist and hip girths, visceral fat area, body fat (kg and %) and skeletal muscle mass. Results: Of the total sample (n = 254), 53% resided in an urban area and the mean age was 28.0 (7.6) years. The mean age of rural women was significantly higher than for urban women. The majority of women (66.5%) had a Body Mass Index within the healthy range (18.5¿24.9 kg m -2 ) and there was no significant difference in mean Body Mass Index between rural and urban women. Measures of central fat distribution, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio were significantly higher in rural residents. Visceral fat area was significantly higher among rural women. After adjustment for age, differences in waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and visceral fat area were no longer statistically significant. Conclusion: While we did not find statistically significant differences in body composition among urban and rural women, these results highlight the dramatic effect of age on measures of central adiposity. Population surveillance needs to incorporate measures of excess central adiposity, particularly visceral fat area, to better investigate changes in body composition among women in their 20s and 30s.

© Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2018. Childhood obesity rates are higher among Indigenous compared with non-Indigenous Australian children. It has been hypothesized that early-life influences beginning with the intrauterine environment predict the development of obesity in the offspring. The aim of this paper was to assess, in 227 mother-child dyads from the Gomeroi gaaynggal cohort, associations between prematurity, Gestation Related-Optimal Weight (GROW) centiles, maternal adiposity (percentage body fat, visceral fat area), maternal non-fasting plasma glucose levels (measured at mean gestational age of 23.1 weeks) and offspring BMI and adiposity (abdominal circumference, subscapular skinfold thickness) in early childhood (mean age 23.4 months). Maternal non-fasting plasma glucose concentrations were positively associated with infant birth weight (P=0.005) and GROW customized birth weight centiles (P=0.008). There was a significant association between maternal percentage body fat (P=0.02) and visceral fat area (P=0.00) with infant body weight in early childhood. Body mass index (BMI) in early childhood was significantly higher in offspring born preterm compared with those born at term (P=0.03). GROW customized birth weight centiles was significantly associated with body weight (P=0.01), BMI (P=0.007) and abdominal circumference (P=0.039) at early childhood. Our findings suggest that being born preterm, large for gestational age or exposed to an obesogenic intrauterine environment and higher maternal non-fasting plasma glucose concentrations are associated with increased obesity risk in early childhood. Future strategies should aim to reduce the prevalence of overweight/obesity in women of child-bearing age and emphasize the importance of optimal glycemia during pregnancy, particularly in Indigenous women.

© Australian Health Promotion Association 2016. Issue addressed Undergraduate dietetic students are required to demonstrate cultural awareness and culturally respectful communication to meet national competencies, but exposure to practical experiences may be limited. The Gomeroi gaaynggal ArtsHealth Centre was established in 2009 after community consultation with the Indigenous community in Tamworth, New South Wales. The Centre provides a safe and welcoming space where women can create art while discussing health issues with visiting health professionals and students. The present study aimed to evaluate the cultural experiences of student and new-graduate dietitians visiting an Aboriginal ArtsHealth centre through a quality assurance project. Methods Six student and new-graduate dietitians were invited to provide feedback on their experiences for this report. A generic inductive approach was used for qualitative data analysis. Results Key qualitative themes of 'building rapport' and 'developing cultural understanding' were identified. Four of the participants interviewed felt they gained a deeper understanding of the context around health disparity for Indigenous Australians through their experiences. Key ways to build rapport with community members were identified. Conclusions Results suggest that first-hand experiences working in an Aboriginal ArtsHealth centre are effective in building cultural competency skills for student and new-graduate dietitians. These experiences could be better supported through improved preparation for the cultural setting, and ongoing monitoring of participant experiences is recommended. So what? The authors encourage undergraduate dietetic programs and students to seek out opportunities for further development of cultural awareness through increased practical experiences working with Indigenous communities.

© Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2016. Indigenous Australians have high rates of chronic diseases, the causes of which are complex and include social and environmental determinants. Early experiences in utero may also predispose to later-life disease development. The Gomeroi gaaynggal study was established to explore intrauterine origins of renal disease, diabetes and growth in order to inform the development of health programmes for Indigenous Australian women and children. Pregnant women are recruited from antenatal clinics in Tamworth, Newcastle and Walgett, New South Wales, Australia, by Indigenous research assistants. Measures are collected at three time points in pregnancy and from women and their children at up to eight time points in the child's first 5 years. Measures of fetal renal development and function include ultrasound and biochemical biomarkers. Dietary intake, infant feeding and anthropometric measurements are collected. Standardized procedures and validated tools are used where available. Since 2010 the study has recruited over 230 women, and retained 66 postpartum. Recruitment is ongoing, and Gomeroi gaaynggal is currently the largest Indigenous pregnancy-through-early-childhood cohort internationally. Baseline median gestational age was 39.1 weeks (31.5-43.2, n=110), median birth weight was 3180 g (910-5430 g, n=110). Over one third (39.3%) of infants were admitted to special care or neonatal nursery. Nearly half of mothers (47.5%) reported tobacco smoking during pregnancy. Results of the study will contribute to knowledge about origins of chronic disease in Indigenous Australians and nutrition and growth of women and their offspring during pregnancy and postpartum. Study strengths include employment and capacity-building of Indigenous staff and the complementary ArtsHealth programme.

Objective: To assess the research contribution of eleven University Departments of Rural Health (UDRH) which were established as a rural health workforce program in the late 1990s through analysis of peer-reviewed journal output. Design and settings: Descriptive study based on validated publications from publication output reported in annual key performance indicator (KPI) reports to the Commonwealth Department of Health, Australia. Main outcome measures: In addition to counts and the type of publications, articles were examined to assess fields of research, evidence of research collaboration, and potential for influencing policy. Funding acknowledgement was examined to provide insight into funding sources and research consultancies. Results: Of the 182 peer-reviewed articles, UDRH staff members were the first and corresponding author for 45% (n=82); most (69%, n=126) were original research. Most publications examined included Australian data only (80%, n=101). Over half (56%; n=102) of the articles addressed rural health issues; Aboriginal health was the main subject in 14% (n=26). Thirty-three articles (18%) discussed the policy implications of the research and only half (51%, n=93) of the articles listed sources of funding. Number of authors per article ranged from 1-19, with a mean of 5 (SD=3.2) authors per article, two-thirds of articles included authors from 2-5 universities/organisations but only 5% of articles included an author from more than one UDRH. Conclusions: Staff from UDRHs are regularly publishing peer-reviewed articles, and research productivity demonstrated cooperation with external partners. Better collaboration between UDRH staff and others may help increase the quality and value of Australian rural health research.

© 2015 Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions, Wash., DC. Over the past 10 years, the University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health, based in Tamworth, New South Wales, has supported increased opportunities for short- and longterm rural dietetic placements through an ongoing collaboration between Hunter New England Local Health District dietitians and University of Newcastle academic staff, using an innovative student placement model. A recent strategy has been the implementation of year-long student attachments to a rural area in an attempt to improve long-term recruitment and retention of staff to rural and remote areas. This paper describes the dietetic student placement model and outcomes to date. There has been an increase in the number and diversity of student placements in Tamworth, from 2 student placements in 2002 to 33 in 2013 and a maximum increase of 317 student weeks. Students have rated the short- and long-term options highly. Intention to work rurally after graduation was reported at 49% for the 2011/2012 cohort of students. Seventy-three percent of all year-long students have obtained work in a rural setting after graduation. An increased exposure to a rural location has the potential to increase the recruitment of staff in rural areas.

© 2014 The British Dietetic Association. Background: Evidence supports strong associations between healthful eating patterns and maintaining a healthy weight with favourable health outcomes for breast cancer survivors (BCS). The present study aimed to evaluate the diet quality of Australian BCS and to determine whether diet quality differed between BCS and age-matched healthy controls (HC) or by geographical location. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 281 BCS and 4069 HC from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health mid-aged cohort completing Survey 3 in 2001. Data from the Dietary Questionnaire for Epidemiological Studies food frequency questionnaire were used to calculate the Australian Recommended Food Score (ARFS), a validated summary estimate of diet quality based on adherence to the Australian dietary guidelines. Results: The mean (SD) ARFS of the BCS group was 33.2 (9.4) out of a maximum of 74. Mean (SD) total ARFS and component scores of BCS did not differ from the HC group [32.9 (8.7)] and no differences were found in ARFS between urban and rural BCS. Conclusions: This is the first study dedicated exclusively to describing the diet quality of Australian BCS. Although no difference was found when comparisons were made with a HC group, there is considerable room for improvement in the diet quality of Australian BCS. Given research suggesting higher risk of chronic conditions such as obesity amongst BCS, and the recognition of optimising diet quality as a key factor in health promotion for all population groups, data from the present study suggest the need for research targeting the feasibility and impact of improving diet quality of Australian BCS.