Carol Maher
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 6680174 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Carol Maher |
| PRENOMES | Carol |
| SOBRENOME | Maher |
| ASSINATURA | MAHER C |
| AFILIAÇÕES | University of South Australia |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8676-0224 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 44 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 4 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 44 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2011 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 2 |
Well‐being decline during adolescence
BACKGROUND: The transition from primary-to-secondary school significantly impacts students' well-being. However, existing research provides limited insight into the long-term impact of school transition on well-being, and no studies have disentangled age-related changes from transition-specific effects. This study leverages a natural experiment, where an educational reform resulted in two different age cohorts transitioning simultaneously, to dis…
Temporal trends in after-school activities among students from 2019 to 2022
Students’ participation in after-school activities changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it remains unclear whether these changes were primarily attributable to the pandemic itself or to age-related developmental trends. This study aims to examine how activity patterns shifted during the pandemic and distinguish temporal trends related to the pandemic from normal developmental changes. This repeated-measure cross-sectional study included…
Scalability and scaling-up strategy of a physical activity policy intervention in Australian childcare centres
There is an urgent need for scalable interventions to promote physical activity in early childhood. An early childhood education and care (ECEC) physical activity policy intervention with implementation support strategies (Play Active) has been proposed for scale-up in Australia. This study sought to assess the scalability of Play Active and describe the Play Active scaling-up strategy. The Intervention Scalability Assessment Tool was used to ass…
Intergenerational Arts Programs for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (Cald) Communities
This scoping review explores key attributes of intergenerational arts programs within Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities, identifying factors for success and challenges in implementation. Using the PRISMA-ScR framework, 39 studies were selected from 374 publications (2000–2025) across five databases supplemented by Google Scholar searches. Findings were viewed through Kaplan’s Seven Levels of Intergenerational Engagement Sca…
Levelling-up summer
There is clear stakeholder support for expanding structured summer holiday programming in Australia, particularly to benefit children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Programs have the potential to promote health, wellbeing, and equity, but realising this will require government investment, local partnerships, and delivery models that reflect community needs. These findings may inform similar efforts in other countries where summer programs are no…
Effectiveness of an mHealth-based impact exercise program for bone health in postmenopausal women
NCT06741956
Evaluation of the Early Years South Australia mobile application
The Early Years SA app shows strong usability and early evidence of positively influencing health service use. Future improvements should aim to expand reach and enrich content while preserving its user-friendly design. This evaluation offers baseline data for continued monitoring of awareness, usage, and impact on child health outcomes
Promoting vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (vilpa) in middle-aged adults
The MovSnax app, tested in the present study, is the world's first digital tool aimed specifically at increasing VILPA. The findings of the present study underscore the need for further app refinement, focusing on clarifying its purpose and instructions, boosting user engagement through personalization and added motivational elements, enhancing accuracy in detecting VILPA bouts, implementing clearer feedback mechanisms, expanding customization ch…
Setting the game plan
This Delphi study sought the views and opinions from diverse stakeholders to create evaluation recommendations for a population-wide sports voucher program. Results suggested that a comprehensive evaluation strategy is needed to understand the reach, effectiveness, and impact of the program. Additionally, there was a consensus on reallocating program funds for this evaluation
Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress
Changes in fitness and fatness in Australian schoolchildren during the summer holidays
Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, identifier ACTRN12618002008202. Retrospectively registered on 14 December 2018
Association between the use of weight management strategies and weight change among Australian adults over 12 months
The use of weight management strategies appears to be common. Being physically active was associated with greater weight loss. Individuals who accepted their current body weight were less likely to use weight management strategies. Fasting and the use of supplements were associated with poorer mental health. Promoting physical activity as a weight management strategy appears important, particularly considering its multiple health benefits
Hashtag fitspiration
While many popular Instagram fitspiration accounts offered credible content such as example workouts, many accounts contained sexualisation, objectification or promotion of unhealthy or unrealistic body shapes. The audit tool could be used by Instagram users to ensure the accounts they follow do not portray potentially harmful or unhealthy content. Future research could use the audit tool to identify credible fitspiration accounts and examine whe…
A needs assessment for self-management services for adults awaiting community-based mental health services
Mental health services are experiencing significant waiting times, increasing the risk of mental health deterioration for persons waiting for services to commence. However, the findings demonstrate that there is interest for alternative support options, such as lifestyle interventions, in the interim. Desire for lifestyle support services, particularly in-person exercise programs and self-directed sleep, was especially high amongst the population…
Physical activity and screen time in outside school hours care services across Australia
Physical activity and screen time scheduling in OSHC is highly variable. Despite support for the guidelines, current scheduling practice in the majority of OSHC services surveyed do not meet best practice guidelines
Examining social-cognitive theory constructs as mediators of behaviour change in the active team smartphone physical activity program
This trial was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ( ACTRN12617000113358 , date of registration 23 January, 2017)
Annual rhythms in adults’ lifestyle and health (Aria)
Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, identifier ACTRN12619001430123 . Prospectively registered on 16 October 2019
Are all MVPA minutes equal? Associations between MVPA characteristics, independent of duration, and childhood adiposity
Characteristics of MVPA other than duration and intensity appear to be unrelated to adiposity
Breastfeeding and childhood obesity
This study aimed to examine the association between breastfeeding and childhood obesity. A multinational cross-sectional study of 4,740 children aged 9-11 years was conducted from 12 countries. Infant breastfeeding was recalled by parents or legal guardians. Height, weight, waist circumference, and body fat were obtained using standardized methods. The overall prevalence of obesity, central obesity, and high body fat were 12.3%, 9.9%, and 8.1%, r…
A Process Evaluation Examining the Performance, Adherence, and Acceptability of a Physical Activity and Diet Artificial Intelligence Virtual Health Assistant
Artificial intelligence virtual health assistants are a promising emerging technology. This study is a process evaluation of a 12-week pilot physical activity and diet program delivered by virtual assistant "Paola". This single-arm repeated measures study ( n = 28, aged 45-75 years) was evaluated on technical performance (accuracy of conversational exchanges), engagement (number of weekly check-ins completed), adherence (percentage of step goal a…
Can Instagram be used to deliver an evidence-based exercise program for young women? A process evaluation
Although Instagram has the potential to deliver a low cost, convenient exercise program for young women, additional research is needed to identify methods of improving engagement (interaction with the Instagram content, exercise sessions completed, and retention in the program). Future research could examine the use of behaviour change theory and provide information that enables participants to tailor the exercises to their interests and needs. A…
Anxious or empowered? A cross-sectional study exploring how wearable activity trackers make their owners feel
Results suggest that using a wearable is a positive experience for users with little risk of negative psychological consequences. Whilst experiences of negative affect were uncommon, individuals low in conscientiousness or openness to experience are at greater risk of negative affect and all users may experience negative affect such as anxiety or frustration when prevented from wearing their device. Findings contribute to mounting evidence of wea…
It’s not raining men
Evidence-based approaches can improve Facebook recruitment outcomes, however, there are complex barriers hindering male recruitment to health behaviour studies that may necessitate multi-faceted strategies including involvement of family and friends
Association between breakfast frequency and physical activity and sedentary time
The International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE) is registered at (Identifier NCT01722500 )
Life on holidays
In this subsample of a nationally representative survey of Australian children, holidays were characterised by longer sleep and higher TV and videogame time, lower vigorous activity and lower TDEE. Uncompensated by dietary adjustments, these differences would result in an accumulation of about 650 g of fat over a six-week holiday period. Holiday activity patterns may be a promising focus for obesity prevention efforts
Associations of neighborhood social environment attributes and physical activity among 9–11 year old children from 12 countries
Minutes, MET minutes, and METs
BACKGROUND: There is conflicting evidence regarding the relationship between socio-economic position (SEP) and physical activity in adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between SEP and characteristics of physical activity in Australian adolescents using a high-resolution use-of-time tool. METHOD: Use-of-time and pedometer data were collected on a random sample of 2071 9-16-year-old Australian children. Use-of-time wa…
Evidence that the prevalence of childhood overweight is plateauing
Until quite recently, there has been a widespread belief in the popular media and scientific literature that the prevalence of childhood obesity is rapidly increasing. However, high quality evidence has emerged from several countries suggesting that the rise in the prevalence has slowed appreciably, or even plateaued. This review brings together such data from nine countries (Australia, China, England, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Sw…
Minutes, MET minutes, and METs
BACKGROUND: There is conflicting evidence regarding the relationship between socio-economic position (SEP) and physical activity in adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between SEP and characteristics of physical activity in Australian adolescents using a high-resolution use-of-time tool. METHOD: Use-of-time and pedometer data were collected on a random sample of 2071 9-16-year-old Australian children. Use-of-time wa…
Testing the activitystat hypothesis
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12610000248066
Effectiveness of a facebook-delivered physical activity intervention for post-partum women
Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register: ACTRN12613000069752
The International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (Iscole)
The results of this study will provide a robust examination of the correlates of adiposity and obesity in children, focusing on both sides of the energy balance equation. The results will also provide important new information that will inform the development of lifestyle, environmental, and policy interventions to address and prevent childhood obesity that may be culturally adapted for implementation around the world. ISCOLE represents a multi-n…
Changes in use of time, activity patterns, and health and wellbeing across retirement
The results will provide important new information that will inform the development of lifestyle and policy interventions to address and improve health and well-being in retirement
Modelling the contribution of walking between home and school to daily physical activity in primary age children
Despite sex-specific differences in associations between active transport to school and total physical activity, active transport is likely to have important ancillary benefits for development of independence and physical activity habits, and should continue to be promoted
Proportion of children meeting recommendations for 24-hour movement guidelines and associations with adiposity in a 12-country study
BACKGROUND: The Canadian 24-h movement guidelines were developed with the hope of improving health and future health outcomes in children and youth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate adherence to the 3 recommendations most strongly associated with health outcomes in new 24-h movement guidelines and their relationship with adiposity (obesity and body mass index z-score) across countries participating in the International Study of Childhood…
Does home equipment contribute to socioeconomic gradients in Australian children’s physical activity, sedentary time and screen time
Children with less electronic devices, particularly in their bedrooms, participated in less screen time, regardless of socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic disparities were identified in children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, however socioeconomic status was inconsistently related to possession of active play equipment. Home active play equipment was therefore not a clear contributor to the socioeconomic gradients in Australian childre…
Testing the activitystat hypothesis
ACTRN12610000248066 (registered prospectively 24 March 2010)
Socioeconomic status and dietary patterns in children from around the world
This study provides evidence of diet-SES gradients across all levels of human development and that lower within-country SES is strongly related to unhealthy dietary patterns. Consistency in within-country diet-SES gradients suggest that interventions and public health strategies aimed at improving dietary patterns among children may be similarly employed globally. However, future studies should seek to replicate these findings in more representat…
Users’ experiences of wearable activity trackers
Results suggest users find activity trackers appealing and useful tools for increasing perceived physical activity levels over a sustained period
Active Team” a social and gamified app-based physical activity intervention
This trial was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ( ACTRN12617000113358 , date of registration 23 January, 2017)
Associations of neighborhood social environment attributes and physical activity among 9–11 year old children from 12 countries
Compositional data analysis for physical activity, sedentary time and sleep research
The health effects of daily activity behaviours (physical activity, sedentary time and sleep) are widely studied. While previous research has largely examined activity behaviours in isolation, recent studies have adjusted for multiple behaviours. However, the inclusion of all activity behaviours in traditional multivariate analyses has not been possible due to the perfect multicollinearity of 24-h time budget data. The ensuing lack of adjustment …
Adiposity and the isotemporal substitution of physical activity, sedentary time and sleep among school-aged children
The compositional isotemporal model caters for the constrained and therefore relative nature of activity behaviour data and enables all daily behaviours to be included in a single statistical model. The traditional model treats data as real variables, thus the constrained nature of time is not accounted for, nor reflected in the findings. Findings from compositional isotemporal substitution support the importance of MVPA to children's health, and…
Human development index, children’s health-related quality of life and movement behaviors
Sleep patterns and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among children from around the world
Objective To examine the relationships between objectively measured sleep patterns (sleep duration, sleep efficiency and bedtime) and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption (regular soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and fruit juice) among children from all inhabited continents of the world. Design Multinational, cross-sectional study. Setting The International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE). Subject…
Anxious or empowered? A cross-sectional study exploring how wearable activity trackers make their owners feel
Results suggest that using a wearable is a positive experience for users with little risk of negative psychological consequences. Whilst experiences of negative affect were uncommon, individuals low in conscientiousness or openness to experience are at greater risk of negative affect and all users may experience negative affect such as anxiety or frustration when prevented from wearing their device. Findings contribute to mounting evidence of wea…
It’s not raining men
Evidence-based approaches can improve Facebook recruitment outcomes, however, there are complex barriers hindering male recruitment to health behaviour studies that may necessitate multi-faceted strategies including involvement of family and friends
Association between breakfast frequency and physical activity and sedentary time
The International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE) is registered at (Identifier NCT01722500 )
Life on holidays
In this subsample of a nationally representative survey of Australian children, holidays were characterised by longer sleep and higher TV and videogame time, lower vigorous activity and lower TDEE. Uncompensated by dietary adjustments, these differences would result in an accumulation of about 650 g of fat over a six-week holiday period. Holiday activity patterns may be a promising focus for obesity prevention efforts
Life on holidays
Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, identifier ACTRN12618002008202 . Retrospectively registered on 14 December 2018
Breastfeeding and childhood obesity
This study aimed to examine the association between breastfeeding and childhood obesity. A multinational cross-sectional study of 4,740 children aged 9-11 years was conducted from 12 countries. Infant breastfeeding was recalled by parents or legal guardians. Height, weight, waist circumference, and body fat were obtained using standardized methods. The overall prevalence of obesity, central obesity, and high body fat were 12.3%, 9.9%, and 8.1%, r…
A Process Evaluation Examining the Performance, Adherence, and Acceptability of a Physical Activity and Diet Artificial Intelligence Virtual Health Assistant
Artificial intelligence virtual health assistants are a promising emerging technology. This study is a process evaluation of a 12-week pilot physical activity and diet program delivered by virtual assistant "Paola". This single-arm repeated measures study ( n = 28, aged 45-75 years) was evaluated on technical performance (accuracy of conversational exchanges), engagement (number of weekly check-ins completed), adherence (percentage of step goal a…
Medicine (38 obras) · Biostatistics (27 obras) · Public health (23 obras) · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet (22 obras) · Physical therapy (21 obras) · Physical activity (18 obras) · Demography (15 obras) · Environmental health (15 obras) · Gerontology (15 obras) · Physical Activity and Health (15 obras)