Many children consume too little water and too many sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), with potential negative consequences for health. Sustainably increasing water intake is therefore relevant, however challenging.

Explore drivers of and barriers to water intake during a one-year field study aiming to increase plain water consumption using Installation Theory in Polish preschool children.

Caregivers of children (3–6 yrs) completed questionnaires on the child's preference for water and SSBs, water drinking habit strength (Self-Report Habit Index, range 1 (low)-5 (high habit)), and barriers to drinking water, at baseline and after one year. Children were first allocated to one of three interventions: CONTROL: no intervention; INFO: online coaching sessions on water health benefits (3 weeks); INFO + W: similar coaching sessions and home water delivery (3 weeks). After 3 months, half of INFO and INFO + W subjects were exposed to an online discussion forum (3 weeks) (+ SOCIAL); the other half received no further intervention (-SOCIAL).

334 children (age: 4.4 ± 1.2 yrs; 50% female) completed the study. At baseline,72% attended kindergarten, among which 48% had access to water during the day. Drinking water during class was not allowed for 41%. The proportion of children who liked or loved water increased from 28% at baseline to 67% after one year. Conversely, that of children who liked or loved SSBs decreased from 58% at baseline to 45% after one year. The increase in preference for water was greater in groups who initially received INFO + W compared to CONTROL (p = 0.004). The mean drinking water habit score increased from 2.3 at baseline to 3.0 across all groups with a larger increase in INFO + W + SOCIAL (+ 28%) compared to CONTROL (+ 16%) (p = 0.001). At baseline, the strongest barriers to drinking water were (1) Drinking large amounts of other beverages (72%), (2) A preference for other beverages such as SSBs (71%), (3) Not being aware that they should drink more water (61%), and (4) Not being used to drinking water or water having no taste (both 55%).Most barriers strongly decreased over the course of the study with no specific effect of the interventions.

An intervention aiming to increase water in pre-school children was able to modulate the preference for water, habit to drink water, and barriers to drinking water in preschool children with unhealthy drinking habits. Providing information and facilitating access to water were the most important contributors to improving healthy hydration habits.

To determine whether pre-pregnancy BMI influences breast-feeding practice.

Retrospective epidemiological study.

University Hospital Leuven, Catholic University Leuven, Belgium.

Two hundred women (median age 29 years, interquartile range (IQR) 4; 52 % nulliparae) were grouped into four categories according to pre-pregnancy BMI using WHO cut-offs.

The incidence of intention and initiation of breast-feeding was significantly lower in underweight (64 %) and obese women (68 %) compared with normal weight (92 %) and overweight women (80 %). Initiation was also related to parity (OR = 0·582; 95 % CI 0·400, 0·846), but not to gestational weight gain, method of delivery or hypertensive disorders. Fifty-two per cent of underweight, 70 % of normal weight and 56 % of overweight women were exclusively breast-feeding their infant during the first month of life. This incidence was significantly lower in the obese group (34 %; P = 0·030). Only 40 % of all infants were exclusively breast-fed at 3 months of age, with the lowest prevalence among women with obesity (P = 0·0 0 1). The median duration of any breast-feeding in the obese group (1·8 months, IQR 3·4) was significantly shorter than in the underweight (3·0 months, IQR 3·1), normal weight (3·0 months, IQR 2·4) and overweight group (3·0 months, IQR 3·5; P = 0·024). Reasons given for ceasing breast-feeding in the obese group were maternal complications (29 %), insufficient milk supply (23 %), sucking problems (21 %) and work resumption (21 %).

Breast-feeding practice in the total population, but especially among women with obesity, fell short of global WHO recommended standards. Policy initiatives and local interventions should continue to support breast-feeding, but also prevent maternal obesity.

The first aim was to evaluate BMI cross-sectionally over a period of 14 years (1992 to 2005) in 43 343 army men and the second was to compare BMI using the paired data of 1497 army men. The data were analysed as a function of the military ranking system, used as an indicator for socio-economic position.

Multiple cross-sectional and longitudinal design.

A significant increase of BMI between age categories was detected over the 14-year period; BMI remained stable in each age category. In the paired cohort, median BMI increased during the same period from 23·9 (interquartile range 3·3) kg/m2 to 24·7 (interquartile range 3·5) kg/m2 (P < 0·0001). This age-dependent evolution was present in all military rankings. From age 40 years or more, BMI indicated a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity.

For the total cohort, BMI remained stable in each age category. For the paired cohort, BMI increased over time. The military leadership should emphasize prevention in order to reduce the health-care costs and disease burden in this cohort. This emphasis on prevention should target those aged less than 40 years.