Association between yoga and related contextual factors with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among children and youth aged 5 to 17 years across five Indian states.

Physical inactivity is one of the four key preventable risk factors, along with unhealthy diet, tobacco use, and alcohol consumption, underlying most noncommunicable diseases. Promoting physical activity is particularly important among children and youth, whose active living behaviours often track into adulthood. Incorporating yoga, an ancient practice that originated in India, can be a culturally-appropriate strategy to promote physical activity in India. However, there is little evidence on whether yoga practice is associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) accumulation. Thus, this study aims to understand how yoga practice is associated with MVPA among children and youth in India. Data for this study were obtained during the coronavirus disease lockdown in 2021. Online surveys capturing MVPA, yoga practice, contextual factors, and sociodemographic characteristics, were completed by 5 to 17-year-old children and youth in partnership with 41 schools across 28 urban and rural locations in five states. Linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between yoga practice and MVPA. After controlling for age, gender, and location, yoga practice was significantly associated with MVPA among children and youth (ß = 0.634, p < 0.000). These findings highlight the value of culturally-appropriate activities such as yoga, to promote physical activity among children and youth. Yoga practice might have a particularly positive impact on physical activity among children and youth across the world, owing to its growing global prevalence.

Effect of Calcium and Vitamin D Supplementation (Dairy vs. Pharmacological) on Bone Health of Underprivileged Indian Children and Youth with Type-1 Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Bone health is affected by chronic childhood disorders including type-1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). We conducted this randomized controlled trial with the objective of investigating the effect of 1-year supplementation of vitamin-D with milk or with pharmacological calcium on bone mass accrual in underprivileged Indian children and youth with T1DM. METHODS: 5 to 23year old (n = 203) underprivileged children and youth with T1DM were allocated to one of three groups: Milk (group A-received 200 ml milk + 1000 international unit (IU) vitamin-D3/day), Calcium supplement (group B-received 500 mg of calcium carbonate + 1000 IU of vitamin-D3/day) or standard of care/control (group C). Anthropometry, clinical details, biochemistry, diet (3-day 24-h recall), physical activity (questionnaires adapted for Indian children) and bone health parameters (using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and peripheral quantitative computed tomography- DXA and pQCT respectively) were evaluated at enrolment and end of 12 month intervention. RESULTS: Total body less head(TBLH) bone mineral content (BMC(g)) and bone mineral density (BMD(gm/cm2)) were significantly higher at end of study in girls in both supplemented groups (TBLHBMC-A-1011.8 ±â€¯307.8, B-983.2 ±â€¯352.9, C-792.8 ±â€¯346.8. TBLHBMD-A-± 0.2, B-0.8 ±â€¯0.2, C-0.6 ±â€¯0.2, p < 0.05). Z score of lumbar spine bone mineral apparent density of supplemented participants of both sexes was significantly higher than controls (Boys- A-0.7 ±â€¯1.1, B-0.6 ±â€¯1.4, C- -0.7 ±â€¯1.1; Girls- A-1.1 ±â€¯1.1, B-0.9 ±â€¯3.4, C- -1.7 ±â€¯1.3, p < 0.05). A significantly higher percentage increase was found in cortical thickness in girls in both supplemented groups (A-17.9 ±â€¯28.6, B-15.3 ±â€¯16.5, C-7.6 ±â€¯26.2); the differences remained after adjusting for confounders. CONCLUSION: Supplementation with milk or pharmacological calcium (+vitaminD3) improved bone outcomes-particularly geometry in children with T1DM with more pronounced effect in girls. Pharmacological calcium may be more cost effective in optimising bone health in T1DM in resource limited settings.

The interplay between air pollution, built environment, and physical activity: Perceptions of children and youth in rural and urban India.

The role of physical inactivity as a contributor to non-communicable disease risk in children and youth is widely recognized. Air pollution and the built environment can limit participation in physical activity and exacerbate non-communicable disease risk; however, the relationships between perceptions of air pollution, built environment, and health behaviours are not fully understood, particularly among children and youth in low and middle-income countries. Currently, there are no studies capturing how child and youth perceptions of air pollution and built environment are associated with physical activity in India, thus, this study investigated the association between perceived air pollution and built environment on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels of Indian children and youth. Online surveys captured MVPA, perception of air pollution as a problem, built environment factors, as well as relevant sociodemographic characteristics from parents and children aged 5-17 years in partnership with 41 schools across 28 urban and rural locations during the Coronavirus disease lockdowns in 2021. After adjusting for age, gender, and location, a significant association was found between the perception of air pollution as a problem and MVPA levels (ß = -18.365, p < 0.001). Similarly, the perception of a high crime rate was associated with lower MVPA levels (ß = -23.383, p = 0.002). Reporting the presence of zebra crossings, pedestrian signals, or attractive natural sightings were associated with higher MVPA levels; however, this association varied across sociodemographic groups. These findings emphasize the importance of addressing air pollution and improving the built environment to facilitate outdoor active living, including active transportation, among children and youth - solutions that are particularly relevant not only for preventing non-communicable disease risk but also for climate change mitigation.

Evaluation of a longitudinal digital citizen science initiative to understand the impact of culture on Indigenous youth mental health: Findings from a quasi-experimental qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Indigenous youth in settler nations are susceptible to poor mental health due to complex intergenerational systemic inequities. Research has shown benefits of cultural connectedness for improving mental health; however, there are few studies which have evaluated the impact of culturally relevant mental health interventions, particularly among Indigenous youth. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of a culturally-responsive, land-based, active living initiative on the mental health of Indigenous youth. METHODS: This quasi-experimental qualitative study is part of Smart Indigenous Youth (SIY), a mixed-methods 5-year longitudinal digital citizen science initiative. SIY embeds culturally responsive, land-based active living programs into the curricula of high schools in rural Indigenous communities in the western Canadian province of Saskatchewan. In year-1 (Winter 2019), 76 Indigenous youth citizen scientists (13-18 years) from 2 schools participated in the study. At the beginning of the term, each school initiated separate 4-month land-based active living programs specific to their culture, community, geography, and language (Cree and Saulteaux). Before and after the term, focus groups were conducted with the 2 Youth Citizen Scientist Councils, which included students from both participating schools. This study includes data from focus groups of one participating school, with 11 youth citizen scientists (5 boys, 6 girls). Focus group data were transcribed and analyzed by two independent reviewers using Nvivo to identify themes and subthemes. Both reviewers discussed their thematic analysis to reach consensus about final findings. RESULTS: Baseline focus group analyses (before land-based programming) revealed themes demonstrating the importance of Indigenous culture, identity, history, and language. Youth emphasized the impact of loss of language and culture, the importance of being a helper, and the necessity of intergenerational knowledge transfer. Follow-up focus group analyses (post land-based programming) indicated that cultural school programming led to students expressing positive mental health benefits, increased interest in ceremonies, increased participation in physical activity, and greater knowledge of culture, identity, and ceremonial protocol. CONCLUSIONS: This novel qualitative quasi-experimental study offers a window into the future of upstream interventions in partnership with Indigenous communities, where Indigenous youth can be engaged in real-time via their digital devices, while participating in culturally-sensitive, land-based school programming that promotes culture, identity, and mental health.

Correction: Cannabis use and suicidal ideation among youth: Can we democratize school policies using digital citizen science?

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263533.].

Traditional surveys versus ecological momentary assessments: Digital citizen science approaches to improve ethical physical activity surveillance among youth.

The role of physical activity (PA) in minimizing non-communicable diseases is well established. Measurement bias can be reduced via ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) deployed via citizen-owned smartphones. This study aims to engage citizen scientists to understand how PA reported digitally by retrospective and prospective measures varies within the same cohort. This study used the digital citizen science approach to collaborate with citizen scientists, aged 13-21 years over eight consecutive days via a custom-built app. Citizen scientists were recruited through schools in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in 2018 (August 31-December 31). Retrospective PA was assessed through a survey, which was adapted from three validated PA surveys to suit smartphone-based data collection, and prospective PA was assessed through time-triggered EMAs deployed consecutively every day, from day 1 to day 8, including weekdays and weekends. Data analyses included paired t-tests to understand the difference in PA reported retrospectively and prospectively, and linear regressions to assess contextual and demographic factors associated with PA reported retrospectively and prospectively. Findings showed a significant difference between PA reported retrospectively and prospectively (p = 0.001). Ethnicity (visible minorities: ß = - 0.911, 95% C.I. = -1.677, -0.146), parental education (university: ß = 0.978, 95% C.I. = 0.308, 1.649), and strength training (at least one day: ß = 0.932, 95% C.I. = 0.108, 1.755) were associated with PA reported prospectively. In contrast, the number of active friends (at least one friend: ß = 0.741, 95% C.I. = 0.026, 1.458) was associated with retrospective PA. Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of mortality globally, which requires accurate monitoring to inform population health interventions. In this digital age, where ubiquitous devices provide real-time engagement capabilities, digital citizen science can transform how we measure behaviours using citizen-owned ubiquitous digital tools to support prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases.

Influence of parental anthropometry and gestational weight gain on intrauterine growth and neonatal outcomes: Findings from the MAI cohort study in rural India.

Poor foetal growth and subsequent low birth weight are associated with an increased risk for disease later in life. Identifying parental factors that determine foetal growth are important to curbing intergenerational malnutrition, especially among disadvantaged populations in the global south where undernutrition rates are high. The objective of this study was to assess the relationships between parental biometry, intrauterine growth and neonatal outcomes, while factoring in socioeconomic status of historically disadvantaged households in rural India. Using data from the prospective longitudinal cohort, pregnant women from rural Pune, India (n = 134) were assessed between August 2020 and November 2022. Data on socio-demography, ultrasound measurements, parental and foetal anthropometry were collected. Multiple linear regression models were run to predict determinants of foetal intrauterine and neonatal growth (p value<0.05). The dependent variables were ultrasound measurements and neonatal biometry, and independent variables were gestational weight gain, parental and mid-parental height. Mean(±SD) maternal age, maternal height, paternal height and mid-parental height were 22.8±3.7 years, 153.6±5.5cm, 165.9±6.5cm and 159.1±8.7cm, respectively. Pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain was 20.5±4.0 kg/m2 and 9.8±3.7kg respectively. Mid-parental height and gestational weight gain were strongly correlated with neonatal growth and foetal intrauterine growth (p<0.05); however, the correlation peaked at 28 weeks of gestation (p<0.05). Gestational weight gain (B = 28.7, p = 0.001) and mid-parental height (B = 14.3, p = 0.001) were identified as strong determinants of foetal-intrauterine growth and neonatal anthropometry at birth. Maternal height was found to influence length of male neonate (B = 0.18, p = 0.001), whereas, paternal height influenced length of the female neonate (B = 0.11, p = 0.01). Parental socio-economic status, biometry and maternal gestational weight gain influence growth of the child starting from the intrauterine period. Our study underlines the need for interventions during pre-pregnancy, as well as during pregnancy, for optimal weight gain and improved foetal and neonatal outcomes.

Digital Health Dashboards for Decision-Making to Enable Rapid Responses During Public Health Crises: Replicable and Scalable Methodology.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has reiterated the need for cohesive, collective, and deliberate societal efforts to address inherent inefficiencies in our health systems and overcome decision-making gaps using real-time data analytics. To achieve this, decision makers need independent and secure digital health platforms that engage citizens ethically to obtain big data, analyze and convert big data into real-time evidence, and finally, visualize this evidence to inform rapid decision-making. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to develop replicable and scalable jurisdiction-specific digital health dashboards for rapid decision-making to ethically monitor, mitigate, and manage public health crises via systems integration beyond health care. METHODS: The primary approach in the development of the digital health dashboard was the use of global digital citizen science to tackle pandemics like COVID-19. The first step in the development process was to establish an 8-member Citizen Scientist Advisory Council via Digital Epidemiology and Population Health Laboratory's community partnerships. Based on the consultation with the council, three critical needs of citizens were prioritized: (1) management of household risk of COVID-19, (2) facilitation of food security, and (3) understanding citizen accessibility of public services. Thereafter, a progressive web application (PWA) was developed to provide daily services that address these needs. The big data generated from citizen access to these PWA services are set up to be anonymized, aggregated, and linked to the digital health dashboard for decision-making, that is, the dashboard displays anonymized and aggregated data obtained from citizen devices via the PWA. The digital health dashboard and the PWA are hosted on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud server. The digital health dashboard's interactive statistical navigation was designed using the Microsoft Power Business Intelligence tool, which creates a secure connection with the Amazon Relational Database server to regularly update the visualization of jurisdiction-specific, anonymized, and aggregated data. RESULTS: The development process resulted in a replicable and scalable digital health dashboard for decision-making. The big data relayed to the dashboard in real time reflect usage of the PWA that provides households the ability to manage their risk of COVID-19, request food when in need, and report difficulties and issues in accessing public services. The dashboard also provides (1) delegated community alert system to manage risks in real time, (2) bidirectional engagement system that allows decision makers to respond to citizen queries, and (3) delegated access that provides enhanced dashboard security. CONCLUSIONS: Digital health dashboards for decision-making can transform public health policy by prioritizing the needs of citizens as well as decision makers to enable rapid decision-making. Digital health dashboards provide decision makers the ability to directly communicate with citizens to mitigate and manage existing and emerging public health crises, a paradigm-changing approach, that is, inverting innovation by prioritizing community needs, and advancing digital health for equity. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR1-10.2196/46810.

Is excessive smartphone use associated with weight status and self-rated health among youth? A smart platform study.

BACKGROUND: In Canada, it is recommended that youth limit screen time to less than two hours per day, yet, the majority of youth are reportedly spending a significantly higher amount of time in front of a screen. This is particularly concerning given that these recommendations do not take into account smartphone devices, which is the most common screen time technology of choice for the younger generations. This study implements an innovative approach to understanding screen time behavior and aims to investigate the unique relationship between smartphone specific screen time and physical health outcomes. METHODS: This cross-sectional study is part of the Smart Platform, a digital epidemiological and citizen science initiative. 436 youth citizen scientists, aged 13-21 years, provided all data via their own smartphones using a custom-built smartphone application. Participants completed a 124-item baseline questionnaire which included validated self-report surveys adapted to collect data specifically on smartphone use (internet use, gaming, and texting), demographic characteristics, and physical health outcomes such as weight status and self-rated health. Binary regression models determined the relationship between smartphone use and physical health outcomes. RESULTS: Overall participants reported excessive smartphone use in all categories. 11.4% and 12% of the 436 youth participants reported using their smartphone excessively (greater than 2 h per day) during the week and weekend respectively for gaming and were over 2 times more likely than their peers to fall within an overweight/obese BMI status. Excessive weekend gaming was also associated with self-rated health where participants were over 2 times more likely than their peers to report poor self-rated health. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that excessive screen time on smartphones does have complex associations with youth health. Further investigation with more robust study designs is needed to inform smartphone-specific screen time guidelines for youth.

Report card grades on physical activity for children and adolescents from 18 Asian countries: Patterns, trends, gaps, and future recommendations.

Background: Physical inactivity is a persistent and worsening population health concern in Asia. Led by the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance, Global Matrix (GM) initiative provides an opportunity to explore how regional and cultural differences across 18 Asian countries relate to physical activity (PA) participation among children and adolescents. Objectives: To synthesize evidence from the GM2.0 to GM4.0 (2016-2022) in Asian countries. Methods: Report Card grades on behavioral/individual and sources of influence indicators were reported from 18 Asian countries. Letter grades were converted into numerical values for quantitative analyses. Based on this, cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were conducted to investigate patterns and trends. Qualitative evidence synthesis was performed based on Report Card grades and published papers to identify gaps and suggest future recommendations. Results: In total, 18 countries provided grades for at least one round of GM, 12 countries provided grades for at least two rounds, and seven countries provided grades for all three GMs. Of possible grades, 72.8%, 69.2%, and 76.9% of the grades were assigned from GM 2.0 to GM 4.0, respectively. In terms of the Report Card grades, there was a slight decrease in behavioral/individual indicators from "D+" in GM 2.0 to "D-" in GM 3.0 but this reverted to "D" in GM 4.0. For the sources of influence, a "C" grade was given in all three rounds of GM. Longitudinal observation of seven Asian countries that provided grades in all three rounds of GM revealed that grades are generally stable for all indicators with some country-specific fluctuations. In future GM initiatives and research, considerations should be made to provide more accurate and rich data and to better understand contextual challenges in evaluating certain indicators such as Active Transportation, Active Play, and Physical Fitness in particular. Further, macro level factors such as socioeconomic/cultural disparities and gender-specific barriers, ideology, or climate change should also be proactively considered in future research as these factors are becoming increasingly relevant to indicators of GM and United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. Conclusions: Participation from Asian countries in GM has increased over the years, which demonstrates the region's enthusiasm, capacity, and support for global PA promotion efforts. The efforts to promote a physically active lifestyle among children and adolescents should be a collective interest and priority of the Asia region based on the gaps identified in this paper.

A guiding framework for needs assessment evaluations to embed digital platforms in partnership with Indigenous communities.

INTRODUCTION: In community-based research projects, needs assessments are one of the first steps to identify community priorities. Access-related issues often pose significant barriers to participation in research and evaluation for rural and remote communities, particularly Indigenous communities, which also have a complex relationship with academia due to a history of exploitation. To bridge this gap, work with Indigenous communities requires consistent and meaningful engagement. The prominence of digital devices (i.e., smartphones) offers an unparalleled opportunity for ethical and equitable engagement between researchers and communities across jurisdictions, particularly in remote communities. METHODS: This paper presents a framework to guide needs assessments which embed digital platforms in partnership with Indigenous communities. Guided by this framework, a qualitative needs assessment was conducted with a subarctic Métis community in Saskatchewan, Canada. This project is governed by an Advisory Council comprised of Knowledge Keepers, Elders, and youth in the community. An environmental scan of relevant programs, three key informant interviews, and two focus groups (n = 4 in each) were conducted to systematically identify community priorities. RESULTS: Through discussions with the community, four priorities were identified: (1) the Coronavirus pandemic, (2) climate change impacts on the environment, (3) mental health and wellbeing, and (4) food security and sovereignty. Given the timing of the needs assessment, the community identified the Coronavirus pandemic as a key priority requiring digital initiatives. CONCLUSION: Recommendations for community-based needs assessments to conceptualize and implement digital infrastructure are put forward, with an emphasis on self-governance and data sovereignty.

Global Matrix 4.0 Physical Activity Report Card Grades for Children and Adolescents: Results and Analyses From 57 Countries.

BACKGROUND: The Global Matrix 4.0 on physical activity (PA) for children and adolescents was developed to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the global variation in children's and adolescents' (5-17 y) PA, related measures, and key sources of influence. The objectives of this article were (1) to summarize the findings from the Global Matrix 4.0 Report Cards, (2) to compare indicators across countries, and (3) to explore trends related to the Human Development Index and geo-cultural regions. METHODS: A total of 57 Report Card teams followed a harmonized process to grade the 10 common PA indicators. An online survey was conducted to collect Report Card Leaders' top 3 priorities for each PA indicator and their opinions on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted child and adolescent PA indicators in their country. RESULTS: Overall Physical Activity was the indicator with the lowest global average grade (D), while School and Community and Environment were the indicators with the highest global average grade (C+). An overview of the global situation in terms of surveillance and prevalence is provided for all 10 common PA indicators, followed by priorities and examples to support the development of strategies and policies internationally. CONCLUSIONS: The Global Matrix 4.0 represents the largest compilation of children's and adolescents' PA indicators to date. While variation in data sources informing the grades across countries was observed, this initiative highlighted low PA levels in children and adolescents globally. Measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, local/international conflicts, climate change, and economic change threaten to worsen this situation.

Do associations between suicide ideation and its correlates (substance use, anxiety, and depression) differ according to victimization type among youth? A Smart platform study.

The issues associated with mental health, substance misuse, and suicide ideation are complex and sensitive among youth. We sought to investigate the role that subjective health, internalizing and externalizing risk factors play in the association between victimization and suicide ideation among youth in Canada via used a custom-built digital epidemiological smartphone application (Smart Platform) on their personal smartphones. A sample of 818 youth citizen scientists in Saskatchewan, Canada downloaded the app to provide information on victimization, subjective health, internalizing problems (symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression), externalizing behaviours (cannabis use, alcohol, smoking), and suicide ideation. Binary regression models were used to estimate associations and controlled for gender, age, perpetration, and ethnicity. From our sample, 23% of youth reported suicide ideation (i.e., thoughts) in the past year. Three types of victimization (cyberbullied, made fun or teased, or bullied via being left out) are associated with a two-times higher risk of suicide ideation. Although certain risk factors (anxiety, poor subjective health, and cannabis use) were associated with higher suicide ideation risk, they did not moderate the association between victimization and suicide ideation. Symptoms of depression were found to be protective against suicide ideation. Suicide ideation is high among this sample of youth in Canada. Certain types of victimization, internalizing and externalizing risk factors, and poor subjective health are associated with a higher risk of suicide ideation. However, our findings confirm that the pathway from victimization to suicide ideation is complex and is potentially moderated by factors other than the ones explored here.

Preserving rural school health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Indigenous citizen scientist perspectives from a qualitative study.

This qualitative study is part of Smart Indigenous Youth, a digital health community trial involving rural schools in Saskatchewan, Canada. Secondary school administrators and educators were engaged as citizen scientists in rural Indigenous communities to understand rapid decision-making processes for preserving school health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to inform evidence-based safe school policies and practices. After COVID-19 restrictions were implemented, key informant interviews and focus groups were conducted with school administrators and educators, respectively, to understand the impact of school responses and decision-making processes. Two independent reviewers conducted thematic analyses and compared themes to reach consensus on a final shortlist. Four main themes emerged from the administrator interviews, and six main themes were identified from the educator focus group discussions which revealed a pressing need for mental health supports for students and educators. The study findings highlight the challenges faced by schools in rural and remote areas during the COVID-19 pandemic, including school closures, students' reactions to closures, measures taken by schools to preserve health during the pandemic, and different approaches to implement for future closures. Citizen scientists developed a set of recommendations, including the need for structured communication, reflection meetings, adequate funding, and external monitoring and evaluation to guide evidence-based safe school policies and practices during the pandemic.

Cannabis use and suicidal ideation among youth: Can we democratize school policies using digital citizen science?

BACKGROUND: School policies and programs are important in preventing Cannabis use among youth. This study uses an innovative digital citizen science approach to determine the association between Cannabis use and suicidal ideation among youth while investigating how school health policies mediate this association. METHODS: The study engaged 818 youth (aged 13-18 years) and 27 educators as citizen scientists via their own smartphones. Youths responded to time-triggered validated surveys and ecological momentary assessments to report on a complex set of health behaviours and outcomes. Similarly, educators' reported on substance misuse and mental health school policies and programs. Multivariable logistic regression modeling and mediation analyses were employed. RESULTS: 412 youth provided data on substance misuse and suicidal ideation. Cannabis use and other factors such as bullying, other illicit drug use, and youth who identified as females or other gender were associated with increased suicidal ideation. However, school policies and programs for substance misuse prevention did not mediate the association between Cannabis use and suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS: In the digital age, it is critical to reimagine the role of schools in health policy interventions. Digital citizen science not only provides an opportunity to democratize school policymaking and implementation processes, but also provides a voice to vulnerable youth.

A randomized community trial to advance digital epidemiological and mHealth citizen scientist compliance: A smart platform study.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to understand how participants' compliance and response rates to both traditional validated surveys and ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) vary across 4 cohorts who participated in the same mHealth study and received the same surveys and EMAs on their smartphones, however with cohort-specific time-triggers that differed across the 4 cohorts. METHODS: As part of the Smart Platform, adult citizen scientists residing in Regina and Saskatoon, Canada, were randomly assigned to 4 cohorts in 2018. Citizen Scientists provided a complex series of subjective and objective data during 8 consecutive days using a custom-built smartphone application. All citizen scientists responded to both validated surveys and EMAs that captured physical activity. However, using Smart Platform, we varied the burden of responding to validated surveys and EMAs across cohorts by using different time-triggered push notifications. Participants in Cohort 1 (n = 10) received the full baseline 209-item validated survey on day 1 of the study; whereas participants in cohorts 2 (n = 26), 3 (n = 10), and 4 (n = 25) received the same survey in varied multiple sections over a period of 4 days. We used weighted One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests and weighted, linear regression models to assess for differences in compliance rate across the cohort groups controlling for age, gender, and household income. RESULTS: Compliance to EMAs that captured prospective physical activity varied across cohorts 1 to 4: 50.0% (95% Confidence Interval [C.I.] = 31.4, 68.6), 63.0% (95% C.I. = 50.7, 75.2), 37.5% (95% C.I. = 18.9, 56.1), and 61.2% (95% C.I. = 47.4, 75.0), respectively. The highest completion rate of physical activity validated surveys was observed in Cohort 4 (mean = 97.9%, 95% C.I. = 95.5, 100.0). This was also true after controlling for age, gender, and household income. The regression analyses showed that citizen scientists in Cohorts 2, 3, and 4 had significantly higher compliance with completing the physical activity validated surveys relative to citizen scientists in cohort group 1 who completed the full survey on the first day. CONCLUSIONS & SIGNIFICANCES: The findings show that maximizing the compliance rates of research participants for digital epidemiological and mHealth studies requires a balance between rigour of data collection, minimization of survey burden, and adjustment of time- and user-triggered notifications based on citizen or patient input.

The Food Equity and Environmental Data Sovereignty (FEEDS) Project: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study Evaluating a Digital Platform for Climate Change Preparedness.

BACKGROUND: Despite having the tools at our disposal to enable an adequate food supply for all people, inequities in food acquisition, distribution, and most importantly, food sovereignty, worsen food insecurity. The detrimental impact of climate change on food systems and mental health is further exacerbated by a lack of food sovereignty. We urgently require innovative solutions to enable food sovereignty, minimize food insecurity, and address climate change-related mental distress (ie, solastalgia). Indigenous communities have a wealth of Traditional Knowledge for climate change adaptation and preparedness to strengthen food systems. Traditional Knowledge combined with Western methods can revolutionize ethical data collection, engagement, and knowledge mobilization. OBJECTIVE: The Food Equity and Environmental Data Sovereignty (FEEDS) Project takes a participatory action, citizen science approach for early detection and warning of climate change impacts on food sovereignty, food security, and solastalgia. The aim of this project is to develop and implement a sustainable digital platform that enables real-time decision-making to mitigate climate change-related impacts on food systems and mental well-being. METHODS: Citizen science enables citizens to actively contribute to all aspects of the research process. The FEEDS Project is being implemented in five phases: participatory project planning, digital climate change platform customization, community-led evaluation, digital platform and project refinement, and integrated knowledge translation. The project is governed by a Citizen Scientist Advisory Council comprising Elders, Traditional Knowledge Keepers, key community decision makers, youth, and FEEDS Project researchers. The Council governs all phases of the project, including coconceptualizing a climate change platform, which consists of a smartphone app and a digital decision-making dashboard. Apart from capturing environmental and health-related big data (eg, weather, permafrost degradation, fire hazards, and human movement), the custom-built app uses artificial intelligence to engage and enable citizens to report on environmental hazards, changes in biodiversity or wildlife, and related food and mental health issues in their communities. The app provides citizens with valuable information to mitigate health-related risks and relays big data in real time to a digital dashboard. RESULTS: This project is currently in phase 1, with the subarctic Métis jurisdiction of Île-à-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan, Canada. CONCLUSIONS: The FEEDS Project facilitates Indigenous Peoples' self-determination, governance, and data sovereignty. All citizen data are anonymous and encrypted, and communities have ownership, access, control, and possession of their data. The digital dashboard system provides decision makers with real-time data, thereby increasing the capacity to self-govern. The participatory action research approach, combined with digital citizen science, advances the cocreation of knowledge and multidisciplinary collaboration in the digital age. Given the urgency of climate change, leveraging technology provides communities with tools to respond to existing and emerging crises in a timely manner, as well as scientific evidence regarding the urgency of current health and environmental issues. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/31389.

Smart Indigenous Youth: The Smart Platform Policy Solution for Systems Integration to Address Indigenous Youth Mental Health.

Indigenous youth mental health is an urgent public health issue, which cannot be addressed with a one-size-fits-all approach. The success of health policies in Indigenous communities is dependent on bottom-up, culturally appropriate, and strengths-based prevention strategies. In order to maximize the effectiveness of these strategies, they need to be embedded in replicable and contextually relevant mechanisms such as school curricula across multiple communities. Moreover, to engage youth in the twenty-first century, especially in rural and remote areas, it is imperative to leverage ubiquitous mobile tools that empower Indigenous youth and facilitate novel Two-Eyed Seeing solutions. Smart Indigenous Youth is a 5-year community trial, which aims to improve Indigenous youth mental health by embedding a culturally appropriate digital health initiative into school curricula in rural and remote Indigenous communities in Canada. This policy analysis explores the benefits of such upstream initiatives. More importantly, this article describes evidence-based strategies to overcome barriers to implementation through the integration of citizen science and community-based participatory research action.

Digital epidemiological and citizen science methodology to capture prospective physical activity in free-living conditions: a SMART Platform study.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop a replicable methodology of mobile ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) to capture prospective physical activity (PA) within free-living social and physical contexts by leveraging citizen-owned smartphones running on both Android and iOS systems. DESIGN: Data were obtained from the cross-sectional pilots of the SMART Platform, a citizen science and mobile health initiative. SETTING: The cities of Regina and Saskatoon, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: 538 citizen scientists (≥18 years) provided PA data during eight consecutive days using a custom-built smartphone application, and after applying a rigid inclusion criteria, 89 were included in the final analysis. OUTCOME MEASURES: EMAs enabled reporting of light, moderate, and vigorous PA, as well as physical and social contexts of PA. Retrospective PA was reported using International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). For both measures, PA intensities were categorised into mean minutes of light and moderate-to-vigorous PA per day. Wilcoxon signed ranks tests and Spearman correlation procedures were conducted to compare PA intensities reported via EMAs and IPAQ. RESULTS: Using EMAs, citizen scientists reported 140.91, 87.16 and 70.38 mean min/day of overall, light and moderate-to-vigorous PA, respectively, whereas using IPAQ they reported 194.39, 116.99 and 98.42 mean min/day of overall, light and moderate-to-vigorous PA, respectively. Overall (ρ=0.414, p<0.001), light (ρ=0.261, p=0.012) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (ρ=0.316, p=0.009) were fairly correlated between EMA and IPAQ. In comparison with EMAs, using IPAQ, citizen scientists reported significantly greater overall PA in active transportation (p=0.002) and recreation, sport and leisure-time domains (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: This digital epidemiological and citizen science methodology adapted mobile EMAs to capture not only prospective PA, but also important physical and social contexts within which individuals accumulate PA. Ubiquitous tools can be leveraged via citizen science to capture accurate active living patterns of large populations in free-living conditions through innovative EMAs.

The SMART Framework: Integration of Citizen Science, Community-Based Participatory Research, and Systems Science for Population Health Science in the Digital Age.

Citizen science enables citizens to actively contribute to all aspects of the research process, from conceptualization and data collection, to knowledge translation and evaluation. Citizen science is gradually emerging as a pertinent approach in population health research. Given that citizen science has intrinsic links with community-based research, where participatory action drives the research agenda, these two approaches could be integrated to address complex population health issues. Community-based participatory research has a strong record of application across multiple disciplines and sectors to address health inequities. Citizen science can use the structure of community-based participatory research to take local approaches of problem solving to a global scale, because citizen science emerged through individual environmental activism that is not limited by geography. This synergy has significant implications for population health research if combined with systems science, which can offer theoretical and methodological strength to citizen science and community-based participatory research. Systems science applies a holistic perspective to understand the complex mechanisms underlying causal relationships within and between systems, as it goes beyond linear relationships by utilizing big data-driven advanced computational models. However, to truly integrate citizen science, community-based participatory research, and systems science, it is time to realize the power of ubiquitous digital tools, such as smartphones, for connecting us all and providing big data. Smartphones have the potential to not only create equity by providing a voice to disenfranchised citizens but smartphone-based apps also have the reach and power to source big data to inform policies. An imminent challenge in legitimizing citizen science is minimizing bias, which can be achieved by standardizing methods and enhancing data quality-a rigorous process that requires researchers to collaborate with citizen scientists utilizing the principles of community-based participatory research action. This study advances SMART, an evidence-based framework that integrates citizen science, community-based participatory research, and systems science through ubiquitous tools by addressing core challenges such as citizen engagement, data management, and internet inequity to legitimize this integration.