A Qualitative Evaluation of a Community-Based Intervention on Health-Related Behaviors in Disadvantaged Women.

Purpose: Grounded in social ecological model and self-determination theory, the aim of this study was to qualitatively evaluate the first and second year follow-ups of a community-based healthy lifestyle programme on health-related behaviors, and outcomes in disadvantaged adult women. Methods: Eleven disadvantaged adult women (M = 37.72; SD = 8.34) (seven of them from the Roma population) participated in this community-based participatory action research. Discussion groups, semi-structured interviews, and field notes were used to assess the effects of the intervention programme on health-related behaviors and health outcomes through thematic analysis. Results: Women perceived improvements in PA-related variables, healthy eating, and other health-related outcomes throughout two years. Most women mentioned these behavior changes in the first year, while others perceived them in the second year. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of developing contextual and culturally tailored interventions that address the specific problems and needs that emerge from ethnic groups. Given that some of these behavior changes were only mentioned by most of these women in the second year, long-term interventions seem to be ideally required in this population.

Centre for the Promotion of Physical Activity and Health (CAPAS-City): A Pyrenean Cross-Cultural Structure to Lead the Way in the Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Multilevel Physical Activity Interventions.

This study describes a Pyrenean cross-cultural structure called Centre for the Promotion of Physical Activity and Health (CAPAS-City) that was created to promote physical activity (PA) in Huesca (Spain) and Tarbes (France). The main aim of this centre is to lead the way in the design, implementation, and evaluation of multilevel PA interventions to improve their efficacy and sustainability inside the city. CAPAS-City responds to the main challenges related to multilevel PA interventions, through six guiding principles: (1) promoting sustainability, (2) playing a leadership role, (3) promoting multisectoral partnerships, (4) using evidence-based strategies, (5) promoting integrated knowledge translation, and (6) using a participatory research approach. Five multilevel PA interventions were designed in both cities by CAPAS-City with these principles in mind. Through the example of the Annual MOT Test adapted to bikes, we also illustrate one practical application of the use of these principles, following the Social-Ecological approach, in which the main agents of influence are involved at different levels to encourage cycling. According to the promising results found in this study, CAPAS-City appears to be a structure that is able to respond to the main needs and challenges of multilevel interventions to increase PA levels in the whole population of both cities.

Healthy or Unhealthy? The Cocktail of Health-Related Behavior Profiles in Spanish Adolescents.

The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence and clustering of health-related behaviors in Spanish adolescents and to examine their association with sex, body mass index (BMI), different types of sedentary screen time, and adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines. A final sample of 173 students (M = 12.99 ± 0.51) participated in this study. Cluster analysis was conducted based on five health-related behaviors: PA and sedentary time derived from accelerometers, as well as healthy diet, sedentary screen time, and sleep duration derived from self-reported scales. Recommendations for 24-hour movement guidelines (i.e., physical activity (PA), screen time, and sleep duration) were analyzed both independently and combined. A total of 8.9% of the sample did not meet any of the guidelines, whereas 72.3%, 17.3%, and 1.7% of the sample met 1, 2, or all 3 guidelines, respectively. Six distinct profiles were identified, most of them showing the co-occurrence of healthy- and unhealthy-related behaviors. Given that most of the adolescents failed to meet the combination of PA, screen time, and sleep duration guidelines, these findings suggest the necessity to implement school-based interventions that target multiple health behaviors, especially because (un)healthy behaviors do not always cluster in the same direction.

Barriers to Physical Activity in Disadvantaged Population: A Qualitative Comparison between Roma and Non-Roma Women.

Purpose: Despite the well-known health benefits of physical activity (PA), disadvantaged populations usually have lower PA levels than the rest of the population. Some intra- and interpersonal factors such as different types of barriers to PA may influence PA levels, particularly among disadvantaged adult women. The first aim of this qualitative study was to identify the barriers to PA perceived by disadvantaged adult women. The second aim was to analyse the differences in perceived barriers to PA between adult Roma and non-Roma women. Methods: Eleven disadvantaged adult women participated in the current study (M = 37.72; SD = 8.34), seven of whom belonged to the Roma population. Data were obtained from discussion groups as well as from one-to-one interviews, and these were analysed by NVivo Pro 11. Results: Three categories of perceived barriers to PA were identified: personal (i.e., economy, labour, physical limitations, illness, and psychological characteristics) social (i.e., culture, lack of social support, and family), and environmental. Family was identified as the main common and most frequent barrier to PA in disadvantaged adult women. Differences in perceived barriers to PA between adult Roma and non-Roma women were found. While Roma women perceived culture, physical limitations, and lack of social support barriers to PA, non-Roma women mainly perceived labour-related barriers to PA. Conclusions: Multilevel interventions addressing specific barriers to PA for disadvantaged adult women are required to overcome barriers to PA and, consequently, increase PA levels. Particular attention should be paid to specific barriers to PA among adult Roma and non-Roma women, respectively.

Which School Community Agents Influence Adolescents' Motivational Outcomes and Physical Activity? Are More Autonomy-Supportive Relationships Necessarily Better?

The first aim of this work was to examine the independent influence of students' perceived autonomy support for leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), from different school community agents, on motivational outcomes in a LTPA context and objective PA levels. Using both a variable- and person-centered approach, the second aim was to examine how different combinations of autonomy-support were associated with students' motivational outcomes in a LTPA context and PA levels. A sample of 178 secondary students (M = 13.26 ± 0.64) participated in the study. Autonomy support for LTPA from the PE teacher, mother, father, and peers were the only agents that significantly and positively predicted motivational outcomes in a LTPA context and PA levels. While the two- and three-way interactions of some of these four significant sources significantly increased the explained variance of some motivational outcomes, the plots revealed that the lowest values of motivational outcomes were associated with low values of perceived autonomy support. A cluster analysis revealed five profiles. The "high autonomy support" group reported the most optimal outcomes, whereas the "low autonomy support" group showed the opposite pattern. However, mixed autonomy support profiles did not differ in any of the outcomes. The adoption of a whole-of-school approach seems decisive to empower adolescents to be active in and out of school.

Adolescents' Sedentary Behaviors in Two European Cities.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine and compare the correlates of objective sedentary behavior (SB) and nonschool self-reported SB in adolescents from 2 midsized cities, 1 in France (Tarbes) and 1 in Spain (Huesca). Stability of objective SB and nonschool self-reported SB were also assessed at different time points during 1 academic year. METHOD: Starting with a total of 829 participants and after applying inclusion criteria, objective SB was assessed for 646 adolescents (Mage = 14.30 ± 0.71 years) with GT3X accelerometers for 7 days at 2 time points. Nonschool self-reported SB was measured for 781 adolescents (Mage = 14.46 ± 0.76 years) at 3 time points by means of a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Gender and ambient temperature emerged as the main statistically significant correlates in all objective SB models, showing higher objective SB levels in girls and lower objective SB levels when ambient temperature was higher. According to nonschool self-reported SB, a gender effect was found in almost all behaviors. Whereas boys spent more time playing with video games as well as games on their mobile phones, girls spent more time studying and using their computers and mobile phones to communicate with each other. The findings showed a statistically significant city effect on study time (Huesca > Tarbes) and video games and telephone communication time (Tarbes > Huesca). CONCLUSION: Nonschool self-reported SB patterns were different in Huesca and Tarbes. Intervention programs should be adapted to target the reduction of adolescents' SB according to different contexts.