Experiences from youth advisors in chronic disease prevention research.

Engaging young people in research is a promising approach to tackling issues like chronic disease prevention. Our involvement as youth advisors provided valuable experiences, including being at the forefront of change and learning to work within a research team. Furthermore, our experience provides greater insight and learnings for future youth engagement in research.

We are a group of 16 diverse young people from New South Wales, Australia, who are passionate about youth health. In 2021 and 2022, we formed the Health Advisory Panel for Youth at the University of Sydney (HAPYUS, pronounced 'Happy Us') working with researchers on projects to prevent chronic diseases in young people. We brainstormed health issues from our own experiences and other research and summarised them into the top three youth health concerns. From these, we helped develop and test programs to support healthy behaviours in young people. We used scientific and public events to present our findings. Finally, we presented our results in a research paper and through traditional and social media. One of the most rewarding experiences was the opportunity to be part of all stages of the research process of improving youth health especially because COVID-19 and social media changed the way we need to think about youth mental and physical health. We also learned how to work together amongst ourselves as young people and within a research team. We hope that other young people can learn from our experiences and feel inspired to become active contributors in projects for meaningful change in the lives of young people.

Use of online food retail platforms throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and associated diet-related chronic disease risk factors: A systematic review of emerging evidence.

Food accessibility was considerably impacted by restrictions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, leading to growth in the online food retail sector, which offered contact-free delivery. This systematic review aimed to assess the change in use of online food retail platforms during COVID-19. The secondary aim was to identify diet-related chronic disease risk factors including dietary intake, eating behaviors, and/or weight status associated with the use of online food retail platforms during the pandemic. The review was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) (CRD42022320498) and adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Nine electronic databases were searched between January 2020 and October 2023. Studies that reported the frequency or change in use of online groceries, meal delivery applications, and/or meal-kit delivery services before and during the pandemic were included. A total of 53 studies were identified, including 46 cross-sectional studies, 4 qualitative studies, 2 longitudinal cohort studies, and 1 mixed-methods study. Overall, 96% (43/45) of outcomes showed an increase in the use of online groceries during COVID-19, while 55% (22/40) of outcomes showed a decrease in meal delivery applications. Eight of nine outcomes associated the use of online food retail with weight gain and emotional eating. Further research is needed to investigate the links between online food retail and obesity.

Striking the right balance: co-designing the Health4Me healthy lifestyle digital health intervention with adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Adolescents are navigating a period of rapid growth and development within an era of digitalization. Mobile phone ownership among adolescents is nearly ubiquitous, and this provides an opportunity to harness text messaging to promote a healthy lifestyle and reduce chronic disease risk factors. Inclusion of adolescents throughout the design process has been recognized as essential for engagement and future implementation of such interventions. This study aimed to co-design a bank of text messages to promote a healthy lifestyle which are useful, acceptable, and engaging for adolescents aged 12-18 years old. METHODS: Iterative, mixed-methods design with consumer partnership. Co-design occurred over three stages: text message development, text message review and final refinement and testing. The text message development included literature searches and consumer partnership with an established youth advisory group (n = 16). Participants who gave e-consent participated in text message review. Demographic characteristics were collected, and quantitative surveys were distributed to adolescents (n = up to 50) and health professionals (n = up to 30), who rated text message content for understanding, usefulness and appropriateness (total score out of 15). Final refinement was completed by the research team to edit or remove messages which had low scores and to assess readability and interactivity of the text messages. RESULTS: The Heath Advisory Panel for Youth at the University of Sydney (HAPYUS) identified the top six lifestyle health issues for young people today in relation to chronic disease prevention, which became the key content areas for the text message bank and drafted new text messages. Following text message development, 218 messages were available for review. Adolescents (n = 18, mean age 16.3 [SD 1.4]) and healthcare professionals (n = 16) reviewed the text messages. On average, all reviewers found that the text messages were easy to understand (mean = 13.4/15) and useful (mean = 12.7/15). Based on scoring and open ended-feedback, 91 text messages were edited and 42 deleted. The final text message bank included 131 text messages. The overall program is suitable for a seventh-grade reading level, and interactive. CONCLUSIONS: This study describes the process of effectively engaging adolescents to co-design a text message bank intervention, which are useful, acceptable and engaging for an adolescent audience. The effectiveness of the co-designed text message bank is currently being tested in the Health4Me RCT.

Today's adolescents are growing and developing through a period of increased technology use. Most adolescents have access to a mobile phone which can be used to deliver healthy lifestyle information to them through text messages. However, it is important that researchers engage with adolescents as collaborators to develop any information which may be sent to them, to ensure that it is acceptable and engaging. We aimed to co-design a bank of text messages to promote a healthy lifestyle which are useful, acceptable and engaging for adolescents 12­18 years old. We engaged with 16 adolescents from an established youth advisory group who advised on top health issues they face today in terms of leading a healthy lifestyle, which became key content areas for the text message program. They also drafted text messages around these content areas (218 total). Next, the text messages underwent review with 34 adolescents and healthcare professionals to ensure they were useful, easy to understand and appropriate. After the review, the research team edited, deleted and replaced text messages which did not score well. This resulted in a text message bank to promote a healthy lifestyle with 131 text messages which were useful, acceptable and engaging for adolescents 12­18 years old.

Feasibility and Acceptability of Chatbots for Nutrition and Physical Activity Health Promotion Among Adolescents: Systematic Scoping Review With Adolescent Consultation.

BACKGROUND: Reducing lifestyle risk behaviors among adolescents depends on access to age-appropriate health promotion information. Chatbots-computer programs designed to simulate conversations with human users-have the potential to deliver health information to adolescents to improve their lifestyle behaviors and support behavior change, but research on the feasibility and acceptability of chatbots in the adolescent population is unknown. OBJECTIVE: This systematic scoping review aims to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of chatbots in nutrition and physical activity interventions among adolescents. A secondary aim is to consult adolescents to identify features of chatbots that are acceptable and feasible. METHODS: We searched 6 electronic databases from March to April 2022 (MEDLINE, Embase, Joanna Briggs Institute, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, the Association for Computing Machinery library, and the IT database Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). Peer-reviewed studies were included that were conducted in the adolescent population (10-19 years old) without any chronic disease, except obesity or type 2 diabetes, and assessed chatbots used nutrition or physical activity interventions or both that encouraged individuals to meet dietary or physical activity guidelines and support positive behavior change. Studies were screened by 2 independent reviewers, with any queries resolved by a third reviewer. Data were extracted into tables and collated in a narrative summary. Gray literature searches were also undertaken. Results of the scoping review were presented to a diverse youth advisory group (N=16, 13-18 years old) to gain insights into this topic beyond what is published in the literature. RESULTS: The search identified 5558 papers, with 5 (0.1%) studies describing 5 chatbots meeting the inclusion criteria. The 5 chatbots were supported by mobile apps using a combination of the following features: personalized feedback, conversational agents, gamification, and monitoring of behavior change. Of the 5 studies, 2 (40.0%) studies focused on nutrition, 2 (40.0%) studies focused on physical activity, and 1 (20.0%) focused on both nutrition and physical activity. Feasibility and acceptability varied across the 5 studies, with usage rates above 50% in 3 (60.0%) studies. In addition, 3 (60.0%) studies reported health-related outcomes, with only 1 (20.0%) study showing promising effects of the intervention. Adolescents presented novel concerns around the use of chatbots in nutrition and physical activity interventions, including ethical concerns and the use of false or misleading information. CONCLUSIONS: Limited research is available on chatbots in adolescent nutrition and physical activity interventions, finding insufficient evidence on the acceptability and feasibility of chatbots in the adolescent population. Similarly, adolescent consultation identified issues in the design features that have not been mentioned in the published literature. Therefore, chatbot codesign with adolescents may help ensure that such technology is feasible and acceptable to an adolescent population.