Assessment of an intervention for preventing pediatric overweight and obesity through the World Café technique: A qualitative study

PURPOSE

To evaluate the self-reported perspectives of participants involved in the Previene Cádiz intervention for preventing pediatric overweight and obesity.

DESIGN AND METHODS

This qualitative study collected information through the World Café technique. A purposive sample of 40 participants was used, of which 14 were schoolchildren, 12 were teachers, and 14 were parent volunteers. The data were segmented, and concepts were created and grouped into dimensions and categories.

RESULTS

The participants confirmed they had learned new information and behaviors about healthy habits. Parental awareness was considered a crucial and necessary element in changing family habits; therefore, increasing the motivation of family members was deemed a critical task in public health interventions conducted in school settings.

DISCUSSION

Despite the suitability of qualitative methodology to evaluate the perceptions of the main players in an educational intervention, scientific literature is scarce. Obtaining information from the educational community about an intervention is not always easy, so the perspectives of teachers, students, and families about the Previene Cádiz intervention through the World Café approach is considered a relevant contribution.

CONCLUSIONS

The participants considered the intervention positive in terms of learning and fostering increased knowledge, awareness, and healthy behaviors.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Future interventions should encourage the active participation of all social groups involved, integrating dynamic and collaborative training activities that are acceptable to all participants.

[Community health. Innovating in the training of family and community medicine residents]

OBJECTIVE

To know the opinions of the agents involved in the training of family and community medicine residents in order to improve the training process of the «Project to Support the Revitalization of Primary Care; Assets for Community Health» (PARAC) taking into account its adequacy, contextualization and the methodologies used.

METHOD

Qualitative interpretative-explanatory study of phenomenological orientation, multilevel and multicenter, in which the opinion of the participants is analyzed. Between 2018 and 2020, 12 focus groups and 24 semi-structured interviews were carried out, with the participation of sixty-seven professionals from six health districts of Andalusia (Spain), who were involved in the PARAC training process.

RESULTS

The participants consider it necessary to broaden training in community health for residents. To this end, they consider it necessary to make changes in the training plan of the specialty, giving more importance to primary health care than to hospital rotations. They value positively the methodologies used in the PARAC training process, which they consider «novel», and the choice of young teachers to serve as references. In order for their interventions in the territory to be carried out with quality and safety for the population, they ask that specific times and spaces be guaranteed for community health, as well as adequate supervision to help ensure the coherence and continuity of their interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

Training in community health for family and community medicine residents requires a pedagogical, didactic and curricular effort that prepares them for work with the community, as well as the guarantee of organizational conditions that allow this work.

[Community participation: COVID-19 learning for new crises. SESPAS Report 2022]

La gestión de la pandemia de COVID-19 ha dejado en segundo plano la participación comunitaria, a pesar de la evidencia de su importancia para la equidad y la promoción de la salud. Aun así, ha habido experiencias participativas que aportan claves de cara a cómo enfrentar posibles emergencias futuras incorporando un enfoque de promoción de la salud y determinantes sociales. El objetivo de este artículo es, a partir de la evidencia y las experiencias desarrolladas en España, hacer una reflexión crítica del papel de la participación comunitaria durante la pandemia y extraer aprendizajes de utilidad para estar mejor preparados en próximas crisis. Para ello, es fundamental construir y mantener redes comunitarias, identificar objetivos comunes y el rol que deben desempeñar los diferentes agentes comunitarios, adaptarse a los distintos contextos y evaluar participativamente. La acción comunitaria no se improvisa: requiere tiempo, recursos y voluntad política para hacerla eficaz y sostenible.

A Multimodal Intervention for Prevention of Overweight and Obesity in Schoolchildren. A Protocol Study "PREVIENE-CÁDIZ"

This paper describes the protocol for a study designed to address the high prevalence (40%) of childhood overweight and obesity in the province of Cádiz, Spain, as a reflection of what is happening worldwide. It is widely known that children who suffer from childhood obesity have a higher risk of developing chronic diseases in adulthood. This causes a decrease in the quality of life and an increase in health spending. In this context, it is necessary to intervene promoting healthy lifestyle habits from an early stage. The objective of this project will be to evaluate the effectiveness of a multimodal intervention (individual, school and family) called "PREVIENE-CÁDIZ" [CADIZ-PREVENT]. The intervention will be focused mainly on diet, physical activity, sedentary lifestyle and sleep, to prevent overweight and obesity in schoolchildren from 8 to 9 years old in the province of Cádiz. It will consist of a 10-session education program carried out in the classroom by the teachers. In addition, children will be assigned two workbooks, one to work on in class and the other at home with parents. A workshop aimed at parents will be included to help teach them how to obtain healthier lifestyle habits. The proposed study will involve a quasi-experimental design with a control group.

[How to adapt qualitative research to confinement contexts]

El confinamiento de la población, incluidas las personas investigadoras, pone de manifiesto la necesidad de adaptar la metodología cualitativa, sus técnicas y herramientas, al contexto actual generado por la COVID-19. Internet y los medios o redes sociales posibilitan la recogida de datos textuales, secuencias, imágenes o narrativas sobre una realidad limitada para el acceso a ella de forma presencial. Entramos en la era de la e-investigación, matizando y reorientando la observación, la conversación, la recogida y el análisis de la información. En la actualidad se trabaja en técnicas y modelos de buena práctica en esta materia. Esta nota incluye métodos de obtención de datos empleados en las investigaciones cualitativas en ciencias de la salud; se hace una selección de técnicas para una investigación cualitativa en línea y se aportan 10 reglas para el diseño de una e-investigación de este tipo.

Childhood, families and the Internet: a qualitative approach on health assets

OBJECTIVE

To explore the views of the Internet in childhood, identifying both health assets and risks.

METHOD

A qualitative study was performed using 14 focus groups, eight of which comprised boys and girls, four of which comprised parents and two of which were mixed (children and parents) in primary schools in urban and rural settings in Andalusia (Spain). Teachers in these schools were also asked to complete an online questionnaire using LimeSurvey. This study involved 114 individuals: 64 pupils (33 girls and 31 boys), 28 parents (18 mothers and 10 fathers), and 22 teachers (14 women and 8 men). Analysis of manifest content and underlying meanings was carried out. QSR NVivo 9 software was used to facilitate analysis and make it systematic.

RESULTS

Our findings show how the differences in the way parents and children understand health and wellbeing affect the way they discuss the Internet and health. The discussion of results looks at the implications of computer literacy for public health and wellbeing, particularly with regard to health assets.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents and children understand the contribution of the Internet to health and wellbeing differently. Whilst parents emphasize the risks (unsafe environment, relationships and quality of information, social networks, physical problems and addiction), the children emphasize the assets offered by the Internet.

[Assets: from maps to territory. SESPAS Report 2018]

In recent years, health asset maps have become increasingly important tools in the field of health promotion. They are being incorporated into the daily practice of many healthcare workers, in individualized care in consultations (through social prescription), and in groups or community development processes. It is necessary to reflect on how the asset maps are being produced, analyzing how the different stages of the process can be involved in their construction. The formats in which the data is obtained through the identification of health assets are presented, as well as the processes of production of the information, participative and evaluated processes, are crucial for the maps to be useful, for professionals as well as citizens and institutions.

[The importance of the process in evaluating the effectiveness of a childhood obesity campaign]

The prevention of childhood obesity is one of the greatest public health challenges of modern times. This has triggered the generation of a wealth of scientific evidence, culminating in a body of knowledge concerning the essential components of campaigns implemented in the school setting. In this regard, a growing trend towards the evaluation of research results in terms of effectiveness has become apparent, while the fieldwork itself very rarely comes under the spotlight. By considering the implementation process description of a multicomponent campaign designed to prevent childhood obesity in boys and girls in the 3^rd year of primary education in Spain (9-10 years of age), the aim of this paper is to influence the elements of this process by considering important aspects pertaining to its implementation, such as its plausibility and feasibility in the particular context.

Are the health messages in schoolbooks based on scientific evidence? A descriptive study

BACKGROUND

Most textbooks contains messages relating to health. This profuse information requires analysis with regards to the quality of such information. The objective was to identify the scientific evidence on which the health messages in textbooks are based.

METHODS

The degree of evidence on which such messages are based was identified and the messages were subsequently classified into three categories: Messages with high, medium or low levels of evidence; Messages with an unknown level of evidence; and Messages with no known evidence.

RESULTS

844 messages were studied. Of this total, 61% were classified as messages with an unknown level of evidence. Less than 15% fell into the category where the level of evidence was known and less than 6% were classified as possessing high levels of evidence. More than 70% of the messages relating to "Balanced Diets and Malnutrition", "Food Hygiene", "Tobacco", "Sexual behaviour and AIDS" and "Rest and ergonomics" are based on an unknown level of evidence. "Oral health" registered the highest percentage of messages based on a high level of evidence (37.5%), followed by "Pregnancy and newly born infants" (35%). Of the total, 24.6% are not based on any known evidence. Two of the messages appeared to contravene known evidence.

CONCLUSION

Many of the messages included in school textbooks are not based on scientific evidence. Standards must be established to facilitate the production of texts that include messages that are based on the best available evidence and which can improve children's health more effectively.