Intergenerational changes in adolescents' physical fitness and weight in New Zealand.

AIMS: This research examines fitness and body weight in two cohorts of adolescents, to determine continuity and changes in these measures across two generations. METHODS: Height, weight and fitness were measured in a population-based cohort of 15 year-olds in 1986/7 (Dunedin Study, n=968). The same measures were obtained for their 15-16 year-old children between 2007 and 2015 (Next Generation Study, n=343). Fitness was defined as maximal aerobic capacity (V'O2max). Height and weight were measured in all participants and fitness was adjusted for weight (V'O2max/kg). RESULTS: The Next Generation participants were, on average, heavier than the Dunedin Study participants had been, and had higher body mass index values (kg/m2). Unadjusted V'O2max values for boys did not differ between generations, but were lower in Next Generation girls compared to Dunedin Study girls. For both sexes, the Next Generation participants had lower weight-adjusted V'O2max values than the Dunedin Study participants. Compared to their parents, weight-adjusted V'O2max values were approximately 25% lower in girls and 15% lower in boys. CONCLUSIONS: Overall adolescents today appear to be less fit and heavier than their parents were at the same age. The decline in fitness over a generation is particularly evident in adolescent girls, although boys also have lower levels of fitness once body weight has been taken into account.

Hand sanitisers for reducing illness absences in primary school children in New Zealand: a cluster randomised controlled trial study protocol.

BACKGROUND: New Zealand has relatively high rates of morbidity and mortality from infectious disease compared with other OECD countries, with infectious disease being more prevalent in children compared with others in the population. Consequences of infectious disease in children may have significant economic and social impact beyond the direct effects of the disease on the health of the child; including absence from school, transmission of infectious disease to other pupils, staff, and family members, and time off work for parents/guardians. Reduction of the transmission of infectious disease between children at schools could be an effective way of reducing the community incidence of infectious disease. Alcohol based no-rinse hand sanitisers provide an alternative hand cleaning technology, for which there is some evidence that they may be effective in achieving this. However, very few studies have investigated the effectiveness of hand sanitisers, and importantly, the potential wider economic implications of this intervention have not been established. AIMS: The primary objective of this trial is to establish if the provision of hand sanitisers in primary schools in the South Island of New Zealand, in addition to an education session on hand hygiene, reduces the incidence rate of absence episodes due to illness in children. In addition, the trial will establish the cost-effectiveness and conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the intervention in this setting. METHODS/DESIGN: A cluster randomised controlled trial will be undertaken to establish the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of hand sanitisers. Sixty-eight primary schools will be recruited from three regions in the South Island of New Zealand. The schools will be randomised, within region, to receive hand sanitisers and an education session on hand hygiene, or an education session on hand hygiene alone. Fifty pupils from each school in years 1 to 6 (generally aged from 5 to 11 years) will be randomly selected for detailed follow-up about their illness absences, providing a total of 3400 pupils. In addition, absence information will be collected on all children from the school rolls. Investigators not involved in the running of the trial, outcome assessors, and the statistician will be blinded to the group allocation until the analysis is completed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ACTRN12609000478213.