Browsing by Author "Banik, Anna"
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- Adolescents' capacity to take action on obesity: A concurrent controlled before‐and‐after study of the European CO‐CREATE projectPublication . Herstad, Sondre Haugsbø; Grewal, Navnit Kaur; Banik, Anna; Klepp, Knut‐Inge; Knai, Cecile; Luszczynska, Aleksandra; Mendes, Sofia; Rito, Ana; Rutter, Harry; Lien, NannaThis study evaluated the effect on reported readiness for action and attitudes toward obesity prevention among older adolescents (mean age 17) who took part in a youth-led participatory action research European initiative (CO-CREATE Youth Alliances)compared with a comparison group that acted as controls. This was a concurrent before-and-after controlled study across five countries and took place between September 2019 and October 2020. Adolescents (n=159) recruited from schools and youth organizations came together with researchers and formed 15 Youth Alliances. An online questionnaire measuring their readiness for action and attitudes toward obesity prevention was administered. Alliance members (n=62) who filled in the questionnaire at both baseline and postinitiative, and adolescents from the comparison group (n=132) who completed the questionnaire twice were included in the main analysis. Two-level linear mixed models controlling for country-related variance were fitted. Alliance members scored significantly higher than the comparison group on two factors in each of the readiness for action, responsibility, and drivers of behavior concepts. The findings suggest that involving youth in co-creating policies to prevent obesity may increase adolescents' readiness for action and promote a shift in adolescents' conceptualization of obesity from an individual perspective to a societal responsibility and drivers of behavior.
- Identifying the views of adolescents in five European countries on the drivers of obesity using group model buildingPublication . Savona, Natalie; Macauley, Talia; Aguiar, Anaely; Banik, Anna; Boberska, Monika; Brock, Jessica; Brown, Andrew; Hayward, Joshua; Holbæk, Helene; Rito, Ana Isabel; Mendes, Sofia; Vaaheim, Fredrik; van Houten, Marloes; Veltkamp, Gerlieke; Allender, Steven; Rutter, Harry; Knai, CecileBackground: To make effective progress towards a global reduction in obesity prevalence, there needs to be a focus on broader structural factors, beyond individual-level drivers of diet and physical activity. This article describes the use of a systems framework to develop obesity prevention policies with adolescents. The aim of this research was to use the group model building (GMB) method to identify young people's perceptions of the drivers of adolescent obesity in five European countries, as part of the EU-funded Co-Create project. Methods: We used GMB with four groups of 16-18-year-olds in schools in each of the five European countries (The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal and the UK) to create causal loop diagrams (CLDs) representing their perceptions of the drivers of adolescent obesity. The maps were then merged into one, using a new protocol. Results: Two hundred and fifty-seven participants, aged 16-18 years, engaged in 20 separate system mapping groups, each of which generated 1 CLD. The findings were largely congruent between the countries. Three feedback loops in the merged diagram particularly stand out: commercial drivers of unhealthy diets; mental health and unhealthy diets; social media use, body image and motivation to exercise. Conclusions: GMB provides a novel way of eliciting from young people the system-based drivers of obesity that are relevant to them. Mental health issues, social media use and commercial practices were considered by the young people to be key drivers of adolescent obesity, subjects that have thus far had little or no coverage in research and policy.
- What policies are there and what policies are missing? A Photovoice study of adolescents' perspectives on obesity‐prevention policies in their local environmentPublication . Banik, Anna; Knai, Cecile; Klepp, Knut‐Inge; Rutter, Harry; Rito, Ana; Lien, Nanna; Baillergeau, Evelyne; Szczuka, Zofia; Boberska, Monika; Kulis, Ewa; Luszczynska, AleksandraThe aim of this study was to investigate adolescents' critical awareness of whether obesity prevention policies targeting physical activity (PA) and nutrition were operating in their local community. Participants were 41 adolescents (aged 16–18, 90%women) recruited from three communities in Poland. Prior to this study, they were involved in obesity-prevention participatory initiatives (conducted within the CO-CREATE project), where obesity-related public policy limitations were analyzed in a youth-led discussion. A Photovoice exercise was designed to capture obesity-related public policies that were either present or absent in young people's local environments. The photographs (N=213) were coded and mapped according to the policy themes they illustrated, using the MOVING and NOURISHING frameworks. The public policies represented in the photographs are most frequently related to: healthy retail or food service environments; food advertising or promotion; structures and surroundings that promote PA; and infrastructure and opportunities that support public or active transport. Adolescents are critically aware of the presence and lack of specific public policies operating in their local environment, particularly policies affecting structural aspects of food and PA environments. Policy-oriented photovoice exercises may prompt critical awareness among adolescents and empower them to contribute to obesity prevention policy processes.KEYWORDSadolescence, framework, obesity prevention policies, PhotovoiceAbbreviations:CO-CREATE, confronting obesity: co-creating policy with youth; PA, physical activity; SES, socioeconomic status; YPAR, youth-led participatory action research.Received: 11 April 2023 Revised: 15 June 2023 Accepted: 13 July 2023DOI: 10.1111/obr.13617This is an open access article under the terms of theCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialLicense, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.