A qualitative study of men's behavioural changes during weight loss maintenance.

AIM: This study aims to understand the behaviour changes men who attended a weight loss programme engage in during weight maintenance. Understanding the needs of men in the context of weight loss maintenance is important, as they are underrepresented in this body of literature. METHOD: Given its focus on personal experience, this study adopted a qualitative design. Semi-structured interviews supported by participant-generated photo-elicitation techniques to explore the behavioural changes 12 men engaged in 6 months after attending a men-only weight loss programme. Data analysis was undertaken through thematic analysis and Gleeson's polytextual thematic analysis. RESULTS: This study suggests that the key behaviours men engaged in to maintain weight loss can be classified into four categories: (1) 'Small' changes, (2) Informed decisions, (3) Monitoring of behaviours, and (4) Dealing with ambivalence. CONCLUSION: This study makes an original contribution to knowledge and can have important implications for practice in the area of men's health, particularly with regard to the long-term impact of weight loss interventions.

Patterns of visual impairment associated with lesions of the preterm infant brain.

The visual function of 42 children with haemorrhagic and/or ischaemic cerebral lesions acquired before a gestational age of 35 weeks was examined and related to cranial ultrasound in the neonatal period and to MRI and neurodevelopmental status at follow-up. All 37 children with abnormal ultrasound scans and one of the five with normal ultrasound scans showed impairment of one or more aspects of visual function. While impaired acuity was more frequent among infants with MRI evidence of visual pathway damage, this was not an invariable finding. Normal or near-normal visual acuity did not preclude the presence of other functional visual deficits. The authors conclude that preterm cerebral insults may produce a variety of visual difficulties, the pattern and severity of which cannot be predicted on imaging. Each child therefore requires individual assessment of multiple aspects of visual function.

Promotion of visual development of severely visually impaired babies: evaluation of a developmentally based programme.

A developmentally based programme (PVD) to promote the visual development of babies with severe visual impairment was evaluated in 58 infants aged between one month and 13 months of age. Progress in nine aspects of visual development was significantly greater for babies receiving the programme. This benefit extended to those with severe learning disability, or with minimal or apparently no vision at entry. The PVD favourably influenced visual outcome when introduced at any time during the first 13 months of life, although earlier introduction enabled greater benefit to be derived from the improved vision. Therefore, it is recommended that infants are referred to a developmental centre as soon as severe visual impairment is suspected.