INFANT is based on more than 15 years of research led by the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), Deakin University, Australia.
Research
- Timeline
- Logic Model
- People

Timeline
- 2007
- 2008 - 2013
- 2013 - 2016
- 2017 - 2019
- 2020 - 2024
Development of INFANT
INFANT was developed to promote healthy eating, physical activity (active play) and reduce sedentary behaviours that would enable health across life. The first 1000 days of life are a critical time for establishing healthy eating and activity behaviours that can have health and economic benefits into adulthood.
Systematic reviews of existing interventions in this population, interviews with maternal and child health nurses and focus groups with parents were conducted to inform the development of the INFANT program.
Key investigators
Key relevant papers
Efficacy Trial
This study was a cluster randomised controlled trial within local government areas around Melbourne, Australia. It involved 542 first time mothers with infants between 4-20 months of age.
Parents and carers were in one of two groups – those receiving usual care and those receiving INFANT offered as six sessions delivered over the infants’ first 18 months of life. Families were followed up when their children were 3.5 and 5 years of age.
This early trial had positive effects on a range of parents’ and children’s behaviours, with benefits still evident at 5 years of age
- At 18 months old – children watched less television, consumed fewer snacks, had improved dietary quality and lower unhealthy lifestyle behaviour patterns. Children of younger and less educated mothers drank more water and ate more vegetables [3]. Mothers’ diets were also improved [4].
- At 3.5 and 5 years old – children consumed more fruit and vegetables and more water at 3.5 years of age, and less sugar sweetened drinks at 5 years. At both ages, children consumed less sweet snacks, viewed less television (approaching significance) [5], and had lower unhealthy lifestyle behaviour patterns.
Key investigators
Key relevant papers
Other relevant papers
Small-scale Translation
During 2013- 2016, INFANT was was offered as a recommended evidence based program as part of Healthy Together Victoria Initiative to enable the program to be offered to selected local government areas alongside a range of other prevention programs. A total eight of twelve areas opted to run INFANT with strong acceptance and adoption by Maternal and Child Health Nurses and other health professionals.
Findings highlighted many examples of program integration, promoted by a range of factors including:
- Strengthened partnerships between early years’ service providers.
- Increased awareness of and commitment to the early years as a period for obesity prevention.
- Identification of the need for healthy lifestyle services for children under 2 years of age.
This small-scale translation trial provided proof of concept for implementation at scale. Of the eight areas that chose to implement INFANT, five continued to run the program when government funding ceased. Insights from this research have informed modifications and improvements of program delivery at scale.
Key investigators
Key relevant papers
Enhancements to INFANT
In response to small scale translation findings from providers and families, a range of enhancements were made to strengthen INFANT:
- Developed online facilitator training, enabling INFANT training to be undertaken online.
- Developed the My Baby Now app and website – these complement the face-to-face sessions and provide 24/7 access to high quality information and personalised support.
- Reduced the face-to-face sessions from six to four to accommodate earlier return to work. The My Baby Now app covers the content previously found in sessions five and six.
Key investigators
Key relevant papers
State-wide Scale-up
From 2020, Victorian organisations, such as Maternal and Child Health services and community health services, had the opportunity to have staff trained to deliver INFANT as part of their usual care. Alongside this, implementation support was provided to help embed INFANT into routine service delivery using a range of models to suit the local context. This was evaluated through a 5- year Partnership Project Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council (ID number: GNT161223) to investigate INFANT implementation at scale throughout Victoria and Nationally. We are using the RE-AIM framework to evaluate the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance of INFANT when implemented at scale across Victoria.
The project partners include: Victorian Department of Health, Municipal Association of Victoria, VicHealth, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) , City of Whittlesea, Sunraysia Community Health Service, Raising Children Network, and Western Alliance Academic Health Science Centre.
Organisations received implementation support to help embed INFANT into routine service delivery. Including implementation support from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Results on the evaluation of the effectiveness and implementation of the statewide scale up will be available from 2025.
Key investigators
Key relevant papers
2007
Development of INFANT
INFANT was developed to promote healthy eating, physical activity (active play) and reduce sedentary behaviours that would enable health across life. The first 1000 days of life are a critical time for establishing healthy eating and activity behaviours that can have health and economic benefits into adulthood.
Systematic reviews of existing interventions in this population, interviews with maternal and child health nurses and focus groups with parents were conducted to inform the development of the INFANT program.
Key investigators
Key relevant papers
2008 - 2013
Efficacy Trial
This study was a cluster randomised controlled trial within local government areas around Melbourne, Australia. It involved 542 first time mothers with infants between 4-20 months of age.
Parents and carers were in one of two groups – those receiving usual care and those receiving INFANT offered as six sessions delivered over the infants’ first 18 months of life. Families were followed up when their children were 3.5 and 5 years of age.
This early trial had positive effects on a range of parents’ and children’s behaviours, with benefits still evident at 5 years of age
- At 18 months old – children watched less television, consumed fewer snacks, had improved dietary quality and lower unhealthy lifestyle behaviour patterns. Children of younger and less educated mothers drank more water and ate more vegetables [3]. Mothers’ diets were also improved [4].
- At 3.5 and 5 years old – children consumed more fruit and vegetables and more water at 3.5 years of age, and less sugar sweetened drinks at 5 years. At both ages, children consumed less sweet snacks, viewed less television (approaching significance) [5], and had lower unhealthy lifestyle behaviour patterns.
Key investigators
Key relevant papers
Other relevant papers
2013 - 2016
Small-scale Translation
During 2013- 2016, INFANT was was offered as a recommended evidence based program as part of Healthy Together Victoria Initiative to enable the program to be offered to selected local government areas alongside a range of other prevention programs. A total eight of twelve areas opted to run INFANT with strong acceptance and adoption by Maternal and Child Health Nurses and other health professionals.
Findings highlighted many examples of program integration, promoted by a range of factors including:
- Strengthened partnerships between early years’ service providers.
- Increased awareness of and commitment to the early years as a period for obesity prevention.
- Identification of the need for healthy lifestyle services for children under 2 years of age.
This small-scale translation trial provided proof of concept for implementation at scale. Of the eight areas that chose to implement INFANT, five continued to run the program when government funding ceased. Insights from this research have informed modifications and improvements of program delivery at scale.
Key investigators
Key relevant papers
2017 - 2019
Enhancements to INFANT
In response to small scale translation findings from providers and families, a range of enhancements were made to strengthen INFANT:
- Developed online facilitator training, enabling INFANT training to be undertaken online.
- Developed the My Baby Now app and website – these complement the face-to-face sessions and provide 24/7 access to high quality information and personalised support.
- Reduced the face-to-face sessions from six to four to accommodate earlier return to work. The My Baby Now app covers the content previously found in sessions five and six.
Key investigators
Key relevant papers
2020 - 2024
State-wide Scale-up
From 2020, Victorian organisations, such as Maternal and Child Health services and community health services, had the opportunity to have staff trained to deliver INFANT as part of their usual care. Alongside this, implementation support was provided to help embed INFANT into routine service delivery using a range of models to suit the local context. This was evaluated through a 5- year Partnership Project Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council (ID number: GNT161223) to investigate INFANT implementation at scale throughout Victoria and Nationally. We are using the RE-AIM framework to evaluate the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance of INFANT when implemented at scale across Victoria.
The project partners include: Victorian Department of Health, Municipal Association of Victoria, VicHealth, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) , City of Whittlesea, Sunraysia Community Health Service, Raising Children Network, and Western Alliance Academic Health Science Centre.
Organisations received implementation support to help embed INFANT into routine service delivery. Including implementation support from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Results on the evaluation of the effectiveness and implementation of the statewide scale up will be available from 2025.
Key investigators
Key relevant papers
Logic Model
A logic model is a way to display how a program works. INFANT's logic model shows the relationships between the goal of INFANT and the resources, services and activities to achieve the program and implementation outcomes.

Inputs
Intervention
Trained facilitators with allocated time, and resources for INFANT delivery.
Recruitment of families.
INFANT delivery resources (e.g. Facilitator Guidelines).
Implementation
Deakin INFANT team.
Local and statewide partners (e.g. local council, health/education services, government departments).
INFANT facilitators.
INFANT online training and facilitator forum.
INFANT website and resources.
Activities
Intervention
Families recruited and enrolled.
INFANT group sessions delivered.
INFANT 7 key messages integrated throughout sessions.
Facilitated discussion and family.
Access to My Baby Now App and website.
Local level evaluation of INFANT.
Implementation
Build partnerships (including shared costs, resources, training and responsibilities).
Identify implementation capacity.
Complete INFANT training/refresher training.
Develop local implementation plan.
Outputs
Intervention
Improved knowledge, confidence and practices among mums, dads and carers regarding - child diet, sleep, sedentary behaviour, physical activity.
Increased knowledge, and self-efficacy regarding diet and movement behaviours among mums, dads and carers.
Implementation
Shared understanding of implementation barriers and enablers.
Shared decision making and responsibility for INFANT promotion and implementation.
Impacts
Intervention
Improved infant feeding practices (including breastfeeding).
Improved infant active play and reduced child sedentary time (including TV/screen time).
Improved diet and health behaviours of mums, dads and carers.
Implementation
Increased confidence of health and early years professionals to integrate healthy eating and active play messages into routine practice.
Enhanced knowledge and confidence to promote and implement INFANT.
Sustained implementation of INFANT through a partnership approach.
Outcomes
Intervention
Improved child diet quality and reduced child sedentary time sustained to age 5 years.
Implementation
Embedding INFANT messages and group sessions into organisational service delivery.
Enhanced reach of consistent, evidence based INFANT messages to families with young infants across Australia.

People
INFANT is supported by a multidisciplinary, international team of partner organisations, researchers and health promotion professionals.
- INFANT Leadership Team
- Current INFANT Team
Associate Professor of Public Health Nutrition, IPAN
Rachel is trained as a dietitian. Her PhD explored obesity prevention within primary care. She is now an Associate Professor of Public Health Nutrition in the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences. Her research primarily focuses on early life nutrition and developing obesity prevention interventions for families with young children. Rachel is the lead investigator of the INFANT evaluation.
Emeritus Professor Karen Campbell
Emeritus Professor, Population Nutrition, IPAN
Karen co-led the development of INFANT with Professor Kylie Hesketh. Karen trained as a dietitian and health educator and has a PhD in behaviour epidemiology. She is now a retired Professor of Population Nutrition. Her work focused on improving health during pregnancy and early life. Karen was previously responsible for the overall INFANT project leadership.
Professor, IPAN
Kylie co-led the development of INFANT. She is now a Professor of Child Physical Activity and Public Health at the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences. She has training in psychology, paediatric public health and behavioural epidemiology. She leads a program of research that focuses on physical activity, sedentary behaviours and obesity prevention in children and youth, with a focus on the early childhood period. Kylie is one of the leaders of the INFANT effectiveness trial.
Professor Elizabeth Denney Wilson
Conjoint Professor of Nursing, University of Sydney
Elizabeth co-led the development of My Baby Now. She has academic qualifications in nursing, public health and epidemiology. Her research focuses on obesity prevention and management with an emphasis on the role of nurses and the primary health care setting. Elizabeth is one of the leaders of the INFANT effectiveness trial.
Senior Lecturer, Community and Public Health Nutrition, IPAN
Penny is an advanced accredited practising dietitian and Senior Lecturer in the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences. Her research focuses on the translation, implementation and sustainability of early childhood health promotion interventions. Penny is one of the leaders of the INFANT implementation evaluation.
Senior Research Fellow, IHT
Vicki is a Senior Research Fellow of Health Economics at the Institute of Health Transformation, working on a large number of research projects, where her work assesses the value-for-money of different approaches to prevention of chronic diseases. Vicki is responsible for the health economics component of the INFANT project.
Associate Professor, IPAN
Harriet is an Implementation Scientist; her research focuses on the implementation and scale-up of physical activity and sedentary behaviour interventions at a population level. She is now an Associate Professor of Implementation Science.
Professor of Biostatistics, Deakin University
Liliana is a biostatistician; her areas of interest include oncology, palliative care, nutrition and eating disorders in children and adolescents. She also teaches statistics at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Liliana leads the INFANT statistical analysis.
Professor, Business Analytics, RMIT University
Kok-Leong specialises in data analytics research and has served in over 50 program committees of international conferences related to analytics. Kok-Leong is responsible for the My Baby Now app maintenance and analytics.
Senior Research Fellow, IHT
Jennifer is a public nutritionist and is now a senior research fellow with the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE). She is an advocate for Aboriginal health equality. Her research involves exploring food policy options that are considered effective and acceptable by Aboriginal communities as well as the ways in which commercial entities and activities influence Aboriginal health. Jennifer has a long standing research partnership with the with VACCHO with whom she co-leads the Aboriginal health component of the INFANT project.
Research Project Manager (Research Fellow)
Research Assistant
INFANT Leadership Team
Associate Professor of Public Health Nutrition, IPAN
Rachel is trained as a dietitian. Her PhD explored obesity prevention within primary care. She is now an Associate Professor of Public Health Nutrition in the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences. Her research primarily focuses on early life nutrition and developing obesity prevention interventions for families with young children. Rachel is the lead investigator of the INFANT evaluation.
Emeritus Professor Karen Campbell
Emeritus Professor, Population Nutrition, IPAN
Karen co-led the development of INFANT with Professor Kylie Hesketh. Karen trained as a dietitian and health educator and has a PhD in behaviour epidemiology. She is now a retired Professor of Population Nutrition. Her work focused on improving health during pregnancy and early life. Karen was previously responsible for the overall INFANT project leadership.
Professor, IPAN
Kylie co-led the development of INFANT. She is now a Professor of Child Physical Activity and Public Health at the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences. She has training in psychology, paediatric public health and behavioural epidemiology. She leads a program of research that focuses on physical activity, sedentary behaviours and obesity prevention in children and youth, with a focus on the early childhood period. Kylie is one of the leaders of the INFANT effectiveness trial.
Professor Elizabeth Denney Wilson
Conjoint Professor of Nursing, University of Sydney
Elizabeth co-led the development of My Baby Now. She has academic qualifications in nursing, public health and epidemiology. Her research focuses on obesity prevention and management with an emphasis on the role of nurses and the primary health care setting. Elizabeth is one of the leaders of the INFANT effectiveness trial.
Senior Lecturer, Community and Public Health Nutrition, IPAN
Penny is an advanced accredited practising dietitian and Senior Lecturer in the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences. Her research focuses on the translation, implementation and sustainability of early childhood health promotion interventions. Penny is one of the leaders of the INFANT implementation evaluation.
Senior Research Fellow, IHT
Vicki is a Senior Research Fellow of Health Economics at the Institute of Health Transformation, working on a large number of research projects, where her work assesses the value-for-money of different approaches to prevention of chronic diseases. Vicki is responsible for the health economics component of the INFANT project.
Associate Professor, IPAN
Harriet is an Implementation Scientist; her research focuses on the implementation and scale-up of physical activity and sedentary behaviour interventions at a population level. She is now an Associate Professor of Implementation Science.
Professor of Biostatistics, Deakin University
Liliana is a biostatistician; her areas of interest include oncology, palliative care, nutrition and eating disorders in children and adolescents. She also teaches statistics at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Liliana leads the INFANT statistical analysis.
Professor, Business Analytics, RMIT University
Kok-Leong specialises in data analytics research and has served in over 50 program committees of international conferences related to analytics. Kok-Leong is responsible for the My Baby Now app maintenance and analytics.
Senior Research Fellow, IHT
Jennifer is a public nutritionist and is now a senior research fellow with the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE). She is an advocate for Aboriginal health equality. Her research involves exploring food policy options that are considered effective and acceptable by Aboriginal communities as well as the ways in which commercial entities and activities influence Aboriginal health. Jennifer has a long standing research partnership with the with VACCHO with whom she co-leads the Aboriginal health component of the INFANT project.
Current INFANT Team
Research Project Manager (Research Fellow)
Research Assistant
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