Mapping of Outdoor Food and Beverage Advertising around Spanish Schools.

Overweight and obesity rates have increased worldwide in the last decades. The marketing strategies of food considered to be unhealthy significantly exacerbate the childhood obesity dilemma. Studies typically analyze the content of advertisement in television, movies, or social media, but there is a gap in the assessment of the real-life promotion of food and beverages around the schools. The primary aim of the study was to assess the products advertised around public and concerted schools in three cities in the north of Spain, and to categorize them as healthy (core) or unhealthy (discretionary). The secondary aim was to describe the types of food and beverages in advertisements, as well as to determine the density of core and discretionary product advertisements. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out between September and December 2021. The units of analysis were outdoor food and beverage advertisements that were located around public and concerted schools of three cities in the north of Spain. We found 104 schools that met the criteria. We identified 6469 products advertised, 35.1% core and 61.2% discretionary, observing significant differences (p < 0.001) among the cities. Fruit (core) and alcohol (discretionary) were the most heavily advertised products. In conclusion, children attending schools located in the assessed cities are currently exposed to a significant amount of discretionary product advertisement, a situation that should be regulated.

Salutogenic interventions and health effects: a scoping review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the typology of implemented salutogenic interventions and the health effects described by the authors. METHOD: A scoping review of the literature published (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus) over the last ten years (2007-2016) was conducted. Articles that included interventions with assessments of health outcomes were selected for this review. The kappa index (86.4%) was calculated for the classification and extraction of information. RESULTS: 61 papers were selected out of the 676 works identified. These were categorized into individual, grouped, mixed and intersectoral interventions. A total of 85% of the interventions described positive effects. Adverse effects were not reported. Methodological limitations were identified in 75% of the papers. The interventions addressed a large variety of topics, especially in the field of mental health and chronic diseases. Collective actions described more positive effects. Intersectoral actions were the only type of interventions to have approached the impact of mortality reduction. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the existence of positive health effects of salutogenic approaches. Important methodological limitations were identified, such as biases in the selection of participants and sample sizes. Studies need to be conducted with improved monitoring and evaluation designs. A more robust theoretical framework and tools to evaluate the salutogenic contents are needed.

Towards a policy relevant neighborhoods and health agenda: engaging citizens, researchers, policy makers and public health professionals. SESPAS Report 2018.

A large volume of public health literature has shown how the social and physical features of a neighbourhood affect residents' health, and how they contribute to health inequalities. In this article, we argue that citizens, researchers, policy makers and health professionals should engage in creating a common, policy-relevant neighbourhood and health agenda to effectively improve population health and reduce health inequalities. We discuss four critical processes for advancing this neighbourhood and health agenda: 1) citizen participation and community empowerment; 2) policy making; 3) producing relevant research; and 4) how to best communicate between stakeholders. Various methodologies and experiences currently exist to secure and promote citizen participation. Sufficient funding of research projects and specific policies, as well as continued communication strategies among stakeholders, are necessary elements of this neighbourhood and health agenda. Establishing collaborative and sustained relationships between citizens, policy makers, health professionals and researchers at local and higher political levels is a challenging but necessary step. Developing participatory action research and local participatory policy efforts are important steps towards developing a policy- relevant neighbourhood and health agenda.

[What we mean when we talk about "community health". SESPAS Report 2018]. / ¿De qué hablamos cuando hablamos de «salud comunitaria¼? Informe SESPAS 2018.

"Community health" is a widely used term in our context. Although interest in the concept has gradually increased over the past decade, we believe the term is still vague. Therefore, we think a better working definition is required. We conducted a review of the specialized literature on the topic. This was later contrasted with the professional backgrounds of the authors, as well as with the results of field work consisting of interviews with individuals with recognized experience and intellectual authority in the area. As a result, we intend to clarify some core terms to achieve a better working definition of community health; we describe the main theoretical influences on the formation of the term; we propose some levels of community action that could be developed through the primary health care and public health services; and finally, we identify some core aspects that should be taken into account in every action for improving community health.

[Tools to assess the impact on health of public health programmes and community interventions from an equity perspective]. / Herramientas para una evaluación del impacto en salud de los programas de salud pública e intervenciones comunitarias con una perspectiva de equidad.

It is essential to develop a comprehensive approach to institutionally promoted interventions to assess their impact on health from the perspective of the social determinants of health and equity. Simple, adapted tools must be developed to carry out these assessments. The aim of this paper is to present two tools to assess the impact of programmes and community-based interventions on the social determinants of health. The first tool is intended to assess health programmes through interviews and analysis of information provided by the assessment team. The second tool, by means of online assessments of community-based interventions, also enables a report on inequality issues that includes recommendations for improvement. In addition to reducing health-related social inequities, the implementation of these tools can also help to improve the efficiency of public health interventions.

[Health promotion based on assets: how to work with this perspective in local interventions?] / Promoción de la salud basada en activos: ¿cómo trabajar con esta perspectiva en intervenciones locales?

An asset-based approach could be useful to revitalise health promotion or community health interventions combining work with multiple partnerships, positive health, community engagement, equity and orientation of health determinants. We set some recommendations about how to incorporate the assets model in programmes, projects and interventions in health promotion. Some techniques are described for assets mapping and some experiences with this methodology being developed in different regions are systematised. We propose the term "Asset-based Health Promotion/Community Health" as an operational definition to work at the local level with a community engagement and participatory approach, building alliances between different institutions at the state-regional level and trying to create a framework for action with the generation of evaluations and evidence to work on population interventions from the perspective of positive health.

[Evaluation of the Health Observatory of Asturias (Spain): web and social network metrics and health professionals' opinions]. / Evaluación del Observatorio de Salud de Asturias: métricas de web y redes sociales, y opinión de los profesionales de la salud.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the Health Observatory of Asturias (Observatorio de Salud de Asturias [OBSA]), which collects and disseminates health data from Asturias through a website and social networks. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted between 2012 and 2013. The study included a process evaluation that analyzed the reach of the OBSA's website, Facebook and Twitter accounts through web metrics and the use made by health professionals in Asturias of these media. Satisfaction was assessed through an online questionnaire. To estimate the potential effects of the OBSA, the study also included an evaluation of the results with a non-experimental design. RESULTS: The total number of visits to the website increased in 2012, with more than 37,000 visits. The questionnaire (n=43) showed that 72.1% of the health professionals knew of the OBSA and that 81.5% of them had used it. Most health professionals reported they were satisfied with the OBSA and believed that it encouraged cooperation among professionals (51.6%). CONCLUSION: The OBSA is known and consulted by most health professionals and is achieving some of its main objectives: to inform health staff and stimulate discussion. According to the results, information and communication technologies could play an important role in the presentation of health data in a more interactive and accessible way.

[Methodology for health assets mapping in a community]. / Metodología para el mapeo de activos de salud en una comunidad.

Within the development of a regional strategy for community health engagement in Asturias (Spain), and connected to the Health Observatory, we carried out a methodology to initiate the mapping of health assets at a local level. This methodology begins with a description of the most formal resources and of the pre-existing community activities, together with a characterization of the most informal, personal and symbolic health resources. We introduce our tools, grouped for the development of mapping, and explain their connection with the theoretical models of salutogenesis, asset model and community development.

[How should population health be approached? SESPAS Report 2012]. / ¿Cómo abordar la dimensión colectiva de la salud de las personas? Informe SESPAS 2012.

The health of the population largely depends on environmental factors, raising the issue of what the role of health professionals, particularly those in public health and primary care, should be in the planning of objectives and actions for improvement. The present article proposes a trajectory, starting with knowledge of the community's strong points in health and its needs, and ending with taking action. This trajectory requires discussion on how information can be transformed into action. We analyze the current situation and its strengths and weaknesses, and make proposals for the entire process: from information to action. Information is more than just the available data gathered from different sources; it is also knowledge of those who belong to the community or are very close to it. This perspective should include both health deficits and health assets. This information should be used not only by health professionals, but by all those in a position to influence the determinants of health. Finally, when considering the actions required to improve the health of a community, we emphasize the benefits of health promotion, in the genuine sense of the term, by reflecting on effectiveness and efficiency. The question of whether the failure of an intervention to improve health is due to the futility of the action, or to be action being undertaken in an inefficient way, is discussed.