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Dr Steven Lyttle

Job: Principal Lecturer

Faculty: Health and Life Sciences

School/department: School of Applied Social Sciences

Address: De Montfort, University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH.

T: +44 (0)116 257 7080

E: slyttle@dmu.ac.uk

W: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/hls

 

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Publications and outputs

  • Evaluation of a pilot sensory play intervention to increase fruit acceptance in preschool children
    dc.title: Evaluation of a pilot sensory play intervention to increase fruit acceptance in preschool children dc.contributor.author: Coulthard, Helen; Williamson, I. R.; Palfreyman, Zoe; Lyttle, Steven dc.description.abstract: Recent research has found an association between dislike of messy play and higher levels of food neophobia in children. The aim of the present study was to pilot and assess a five week intervention with preschool children, to examine whether engagement in tactile sensory tasks leads to increased fruit acceptance. Interventions were carried out to examine whether weekly sessions of sensory play combined with fruit exposure, would increase acceptance and enjoyment of fruits to a greater extent than two non-sensory play conditions featuring fruit exposure or normal play activities alone. One hundred children aged 18 months to four years were recruited from ten playgroups in the Midlands area of the United Kingdom (UK) of which 83 completed the interventions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: combined sensory play (fruit and non-food), non-food sensory play, fruit taste exposure, and control play. There were baseline differences in child fruit acceptance, so this was entered as a covariate into subsequent analyses. It was found that children in both the combined sensory play and non-food sensory play conditions enjoyed significantly more fruits at follow up than children in the control play condition, whilst children in the non-food sensory play group also enjoyed significantly more fruits than the fruit exposure group. These findings suggest that sensory play, with fruit and/or non-food substances, combined with exposure may be an effective strategy to increase tasting and fruit acceptance in children. dc.description: The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link
  • Evaluating the audio-diary method in qualitative research
    dc.title: Evaluating the audio-diary method in qualitative research dc.contributor.author: Williamson, I. R.; Leeming, D.; Lyttle, Steven; Johnson, Sally
  • Making use of expertise: A qualitative analysis of the experience of breastfeeding support for first-time mothers
    dc.title: Making use of expertise: A qualitative analysis of the experience of breastfeeding support for first-time mothers dc.contributor.author: Leeming, D.; Williamson, I. R.; Johnson, S.; Lyttle, Steven
  • Socially sensitive lactation: Exploring the social context of breastfeeding
    dc.title: Socially sensitive lactation: Exploring the social context of breastfeeding dc.contributor.author: Leeming, D.; Williamson, I. R.; Lyttle, Steven; Johnson, S. dc.description.abstract: Many women report difficulties with breastfeeding and do not maintain the practice for as long as intended. Although psychologists and other researchers have explored some of the difficulties they experience, fuller exploration of the relational contexts in which breastfeeding takes place is warranted to enable more in-depth analysis of the challenges these pose for breastfeeding women. This article is based on qualitative data collected from 22 first-time breastfeeding mothers through two phases of interviews and audio-diaries which explored how the participants experienced their relationships with significant others and the wider social context of breastfeeding in the first five weeks postpartum. Using a thematic analysis informed by symbolic interactionism, we develop the overarching theme of 'Practising socially sensitive lactation' which captures how participants felt the need to manage tensions between breastfeeding and their perceptions of the needs, expectations and comfort of others. We argue that breastfeeding remains a problematic social act, despite its agreed importance for child health. While acknowledging the limitations of our sample and analytic approach, we suggest ways in which perinatal and public health interventions can take more effective account of the social challenges of breastfeeding in order to facilitate the health and psychological well-being of mothers and their infants.
  • Maintaining the 'good maternal body': Expressing milk as a way of negotiating the demands and dilemmas of early infant feeding.
    dc.title: Maintaining the 'good maternal body': Expressing milk as a way of negotiating the demands and dilemmas of early infant feeding. dc.contributor.author: Johnson, S.; Leeming, D.; Williamson, I. R.; Lyttle, Steven
  • Developing undergraduate students’ skills in qualitative data analysis through the exploration of on-line Hajj diaries.
    dc.title: Developing undergraduate students’ skills in qualitative data analysis through the exploration of on-line Hajj diaries. dc.contributor.author: Williamson, I. R.; Song, J.; Lyttle, Steven
  • 'It should be the most natural thing in the world': Exploring first-time mothers' breastfeeding difficulties in the UK using audio-diaries and interviews.
    dc.title: 'It should be the most natural thing in the world': Exploring first-time mothers' breastfeeding difficulties in the UK using audio-diaries and interviews. dc.contributor.author: Williamson, I. R.; Leeming, D.; Lyttle, Steven; Johnson, S.
  • Young people's images of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs.
    dc.title: Young people's images of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. dc.contributor.author: Leeming, D.; Hanley, M.; Lyttle, Steven
  • Expressing yourself: A feminist analysis of talk around expressing breast milk
    dc.title: Expressing yourself: A feminist analysis of talk around expressing breast milk dc.contributor.author: Williamson, I. R.; Johnson, Sally; Lyttle, Steven; Leeming, D.

 Click here for a full listing of Steven Lyttle's publications and outputs.

Research interests/expertise

  • Breastfeeding and infant nutrition
  • Developmental psychology
  • Development of preterm infants.

Membership of professional associations and societies

Member of the Graduate Education Committee of the British Psychological Society (formally the Graduate qualifications and education Committee).

Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society.

Conference attendance

Williamson,I, Lyttle, S, Johnson, S & Leeming, D.(2008 September). The benefits and drawbacks of using audio-diaries to capture lived experience: Participants' and researchers' views (Poster presentation). British Psychological Society Qualitative Methods Section Inaugural Conference, Leeds, UK.

Leeming,D, Williamson,I, Johnson,S & Lyttle, S (2009 September). ‘This is a natural thing, why can I not do this?’: The impact of early breastfeeding difficulties on first-time mothers.(Poster presentation). Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology Annual Conference, Newcastle, UK.

Johnson,S, Leeming,D, Lyttle,S & Williamson,I (2010 March). Empowerment or regulation? Exploring the implications of women’s perspectives on pumping and expressing milk. Breastfeeding and Feminism Symposium 2010: Informing Public Health Approaches Greensborough, North Carolina, US.

My colleague attended the Leeds Conference and this was funded through the school staff development budget. I did not attend the events in Newcastle and Greensborough.

Johnson,S, Leeming,D, Lyttle, S & Williamson,I (2011 April). Being a good mother: Expressing breast milk as a way of negotiating the moral imperative that breast is best. Paper presented at the 7th Biennial Conference of the International Society of Critical Health Psychology, Adelaide, Australia.

Leeming,D, Williamson,I, Johnson S & Lyttle S (2011 June) Becoming a breastfeeding mother: An interactionist perspective. Nutrition and Nurture in Infancy and Childhood: Bio-Cultural Perspectives. Grange-Over-Sands, UK.

Williamson,I, Song,J. & Lyttle,S (2011 June) Developing undergraduate students’ skills in qualitative data analysis through the exploration of on-line Hajj diaries. Higher Education Academy Centre for Sociology, Anthropology and Politics Teaching Islam in the Social Sciences. Birmingham, UK.

Case studies

  • A member of our team was invited to give a paper at the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers’ Annual Conference in 2009
  • Our research group was invited to submit a chapter for publication in an American text due for publication 2012.