Glob Health Promot
· 2025 Dec · PMID 41396136
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BACKGROUND: Many studies have investigated the adoption and implementation of school-based physical activity interventions, but only a few have reported on their sustainability. Understanding the factors contributing to...BACKGROUND: Many studies have investigated the adoption and implementation of school-based physical activity interventions, but only a few have reported on their sustainability. Understanding the factors contributing to school-based physical activity interventions being maintained or abandoned is necessary to ensure that resource investments are effective. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to contribute to this understanding. We investigated the actions and strategies developed by the school teams participating in the Quebec initiative in ensuring that the tailored interventions they had developed over the three-year degressive funding were maintained. METHODS: Target population was the 415 schools that reached the end of the three-year funding period in 2020. An online survey consisting of 27 multiple choice questions, each followed by open-ended questions in which respondents explained or justified their choice, was sent to all participating schools. RESULTS: A total of 397 of the 415 schools responded to the survey. The analysis showed that the school teams have integrated actions to foster sustainability during initial project planning and adoption. Eight main strategies were deployed to sustain the interventions: maintenance of the most popular physical activities, inclusion of the 60-min daily physical activity (DPA) initiative in the school Educational Project, student involvement in implementing DPA, maintaining a person in charge of DPA implementation, maintaining the committee in charge of DPA implementation, training new staff, researching new sources of funding, maintaining developed collaborations. CONCLUSION: The initiative's bottom-up approach has favored school teams developing various sustainability strategies, whether at the institutional, organizational or community level. Given the acceleration of contemporary changes, it is inevitable that DPA interventions will need to be adapted and transformed. Therefore, what should be sustained is the schools' capacity building and innovativeness that has been generated by the new program implementation.
Herr M, Dallant T, Bozonnet A
… +7 more, Koné A, Grasteau V, Cottin M, Rouquette A, Gautier S, Delarocque-Astagneau E, Josseran L
Glob Health Promot
· 2025 Dec · PMID 41396135
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CONTEXT: Food literacy encompasses the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to choose, prepare and enjoy a healthy diet. Understanding the factors influencing children's food literacy is essential for guiding effort...CONTEXT: Food literacy encompasses the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to choose, prepare and enjoy a healthy diet. Understanding the factors influencing children's food literacy is essential for guiding efforts to prevent overweight and obesity, as well as other food-related health outcomes. OBJECTIVE: In this context, this study aimed to describe the level of food literacy and its associated factors in a sample of 1187 children aged 8 to 11 years in France. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in CM1-CM2 classes (equivalent to 4th and 5th grades) across 31 schools in the Essonne department of France during the 2022-2023 school year. Data on food literacy, age, gender, family composition and lifestyle factors were collected through questionnaires completed by each child during class. Schools were characterized by their average social position index, which is derived from parents' professional categories and includes information on education, housing and culture. Factors associated with the food literacy score (ranging from 0 to 25, with higher scores indicating better food literacy) were identified in multivariate linear regression models that accounted for both individual and class levels. RESULTS: Among the 1187 children included in the study, the mean food literacy score was 17.0 ± 3.4. After adjustment, food literacy levels were significantly higher among girls, 5th graders, children engaged in regular physical activity and those with lower screen time. Conversely, food literacy levels were lower in larger families and in schools situated in priority education areas. A gradient in food literacy was observed according to the quintile of the school's social position index, with a difference of 2.17 points between the lowest and highest quintiles. CONCLUSION: This study provides insights into the attributes of food literacy among a large sample of children and highlights the roles of social, family and individual factors in shaping food literacy.
Glob Health Promot
· 2025 Dec · PMID 41332153
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Competency frameworks play an important role in strengthening workforce capacity for promoting population health and wellbeing. However, competencies need to be periodically reviewed and revised to maintain their relevan...Competency frameworks play an important role in strengthening workforce capacity for promoting population health and wellbeing. However, competencies need to be periodically reviewed and revised to maintain their relevance to changing practice and contexts. This paper reports on the process of reviewing and updating the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) Core Competencies for Health Promotion. A multistage process was employed, which involved conducting a scoping review of the literature on health promotion competencies (2012-2022), based on which suggested revisions to the IUHPE Core Competency statements were made. An online consultation was then undertaken with the health promotion community, as represented by practitioners and members registered with the IUHPE Accreditation System, to consider the updated Revised Draft Framework with proposed changes. There was a high level of consensus concerning the proposed changes among respondents, based on which a revised version of the Competency Framework was produced. This was then forwarded to the IUHPE Global Accreditation System Management Committee and Executive Board for approval. The findings from this updating process are discussed and the implications for future developments are considered.
Demers-Bouffard D, Pilote T, Mukinzi B
… +3 more, Audate PP, Lebel A, Diallo T
Glob Health Promot
· 2025 Dec · PMID 41332144
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Health impact assessment (HIA) can magnify the positive impacts of health promotion in practice, but practitioners face many challenges in implementing it, from the difficulties of intersectoral work to a lack of resourc...Health impact assessment (HIA) can magnify the positive impacts of health promotion in practice, but practitioners face many challenges in implementing it, from the difficulties of intersectoral work to a lack of resources. These challenges require flexibility and sometimes involve adapting best practices in health promotion and the typical HIA process. This article presents an agile approach to conducting HIA when the window of opportunity is short, resources are scarce, and the expected value of appraisal is uncertain. Accordingly, this approach prioritizes the recommendations step over the appraisal step, while proposing an iterative and co-constructive process involving a limited number of stakeholders. The approach is exemplified through a case study of an HIA conducted in Québec on a guide promoting green, active and safe transportation networks. We argue that the adapted method can, in certain circumstances, lead to better results than a typical HIA. The article also suggests contextual criteria that allow HIA practitioners to assess whether this approach is suitable for their needs.
Leino HM, Ahokas I, Hurmerinta L
… +8 more, Husu P, Kokko S, Saarimaa R, Sandberg B, Tapio P, Vasankari T, Villberg J, Vähä-Ypyä H
Glob Health Promot
· 2025 Nov · PMID 41307240
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AIMS: Receiving or lacking support can be decisive in how children engage in and continue with sports hobbies or physical activity (PA) in general. The topic is timely, since the PA levels of children are currently insuf...AIMS: Receiving or lacking support can be decisive in how children engage in and continue with sports hobbies or physical activity (PA) in general. The topic is timely, since the PA levels of children are currently insufficient. However, children's own experiences concerning the support they receive are under-researched. The purpose of this study is to explore from whom, to what extent and what kind of support children experience receiving for PA. METHODS: This mixed-methods study collected empirical data among 11-year-old children, regarding children's own perceptions of PA by local interviews ( = 36) as the main primary material, complemented with a local survey ( = 114), and national survey ( = 1765) conducted in Finland. In addition, access to the local respondents' accelerometer measurements conducted in five schools in a city in Southern Finland was utilised to characterise the interviewees in terms of their PA. The various data were gathered in 2021 and 2022. RESULTS: According to data from both local and national surveys, children experience receiving support for PA from multiple actors (particularly from parents, teachers, hobby instructors/coaches, friends). Support styles vary from coercive to enabling, encouraging and participatory support. The combination of support from different actors can be reinforcing, remedial or destructive, depending on the type and amount of support and a child's experiences regarding the support. CONCLUSIONS: To reinforce positive support experiences and to avoid destructive support combinations, shared responsibility and congruence regarding the provision of support for children's PA is called for.
Vivion M, Reid V, Benoit A
… +4 more, Coutant A, Dubé E, Fletcher C, Tourigny A
Glob Health Promot
· 2025 Nov · PMID 41305916
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The health informational practices of Indigenous community members living in urban areas remain understudied in Quebec (Canada), despite their importance given rapid population growth and unmet needs. These practices bec...The health informational practices of Indigenous community members living in urban areas remain understudied in Quebec (Canada), despite their importance given rapid population growth and unmet needs. These practices became even more crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many health services were disrupted. In collaboration with the Native Friendship Centre of Lanaudière, this study explores how Indigenous people living in urban settings in Quebec accessed, interpreted, and used health information during the pandemic. We conducted 24 in-person qualitative interviews between September 2021 and February 2022 and analyzed the data through a thematic content analysis, guided by the concept of trust as a relational and subjective construct. This project was not conducted under the OCAP (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession) principles, as it focused on individual lived experiences of urban Indigenous participants in collaboration with a community partner, without involving collective data governance mechanisms.Findings show that informational practices were diverse and multifaceted, combining multiple media sources with a preference for locally shared information through social networks and community organizations. It is important to underscore that participants' mistrust of government sources cannot be attributed solely to the COVID-19 infodemic. While media saturation and the dissemination of contradictory messages contributed to uncertainty, this mistrust is also deeply rooted in the ongoing impacts of settler colonialism, including systemic racism, intergenerational trauma, and experiences of exclusion and harm within the health system. This structural context continues to shape how information is received, interpreted, and acted upon. The study underscores the need to approach informational practices through a lens that centers Indigenous lived realities, historical memory, and self-determination.
Glob Health Promot
· 2025 Oct · PMID 41164955
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Introducción: el aumento de problemas de salud mental, especialmente por ansiedad, estrés y depresión en estudiantes universitarios, se ve incrementado debido a los niveles de presión académica, por lo que resulta esenci...Introducción: el aumento de problemas de salud mental, especialmente por ansiedad, estrés y depresión en estudiantes universitarios, se ve incrementado debido a los niveles de presión académica, por lo que resulta esencial investigar estos temas y considerar la promoción de la salud, específicamente la actividad física como factor protector. El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar la relación entre la actividad física y los niveles de ansiedad, estrés y depresión en estudiantes de una universidad chilena.Metodología: se incluyeron 344 estudiantes de pregrado de una universidad chilena, de entre 17 y 45 años, que autorizaron su participación mediante firma de consentimiento informado. La muestra se seleccionó por conveniencia, los instrumentos utilizados fueron un cuestionario sociodemográfico, BPAAT y DASS-21. Para comparación de grupos se usó la prueba de Kruskal-Wallis (variables politómicas) y para la correlación de variables cuantitativas se aplicó la prueba de correlación de Spearman.Resultados: un 61.2 % de los participantes fueron mujeres, quienes son insuficientemente activas en comparación con los hombres. Aunque el 71.4 % de los estudiantes reportó tener acceso a espacios para la práctica de actividad física, solo un 45.2 % es suficientemente activo. En la población femenina se observa que existe más sintomatología de ansiedad, estrés y depresión con respecto al género masculino. Las correlaciones indican que a mayor frecuencia de actividad física, los síntomas de ansiedad, estrés y depresión disminuyen.Conclusión: la actividad física podría servir como una herramienta efectiva para mejorar la salud mental y reducir el malestar psicológico en estudiantes universitarios, con especial énfasis en grupos que presentan menores niveles de participación, como las mujeres, con el fin de fortalecer su bienestar psicológico y enfrentar el impacto del estrés académico.
Yücel E, Gölbaşı Koç SD, Sungur S
… +2 more, Metintaş S, Önsüz MF
Glob Health Promot
· 2025 Oct · PMID 41159528
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Menstruation, as a natural physiological process, intersects with health, human rights, and environmental concerns, making its management a critical issue influenced by cultural, social, and systemic factors. This study...Menstruation, as a natural physiological process, intersects with health, human rights, and environmental concerns, making its management a critical issue influenced by cultural, social, and systemic factors. This study aims to determine the hygiene product preferences of university graduate women, the individual factors (such as personal habits and preferences) and systemic factors (such as availability, marketing, and cultural norms) influencing their product choices, as well as their level of product knowledge. This study was conducted between April and May 2021 and included 3301 menstruating individuals aged 18-49 years using menstrual hygiene products. Data analysis was performed using Spearman's correlation test and the Chi-square test. The mean age of participants was 26.7 ± 6.4 years. Of the menstrual hygiene products used, 93.8% of participants reported using single-use pads, 21.8% reported using tampons, and 2.5% reported using menstrual cloth. Among the participants, 88.1% reported using single-use products, 4.1% reported using reusable products, and 7.8% reported using both types of products. A positive correlation was identified between the usage of and knowledge about each type of menstrual hygiene product. Among the users of reusable products, the answer of 'environmental effect' as the most effective factor influencing the preferences was found to be more frequent when compared to the single-use product users and those using the products in both groups (p < 0.001). It was observed that women's age and employment status were factors that created a difference in menstrual hygiene product choices.
Glob Health Promot
· 2025 Oct · PMID 41137436
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Sierra Leone has one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates. In response to this crisis, Sierra Leone has developed innovative policies and community-based practices to improve maternal health, including the imp...Sierra Leone has one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates. In response to this crisis, Sierra Leone has developed innovative policies and community-based practices to improve maternal health, including the implementation of the Sierra Leone Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child, and Adolescent Health Strategy. The project creates short documentary films that amplify the expertise of Sierra Leonean healthcare professionals and the voices of current and expectant mothers. The current study used focus groups to qualitatively explore the perceptions of mothers and healthcare workers in Sierra Leone about the efficacy of short, direct, documentary storytelling as a tool for improving maternal health-seeking behaviors. The salient themes that emerged in the mothers' data included and . The salient themes that emerged in the healthcare workers' data included , , and . Our findings suggest that documentary film could serve as a powerful tool within low-income countries for encouraging positive health choices, spreading education on maternal and child health topics, building trust in the healthcare system, and reinforcing motivation for healthcare workers to comprehensively care for their patients.