Submit to IJERPH Review for IJERPH Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Community Capacity Building: A Potential Solution for the Current Obesity Epidemic

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 8737

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Andrew P. Hills

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Health Sciences, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7248, Australia
Interests: physical activity; obesity; weight management; body composition assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Roger Hughes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart 7001, Australia
Interests: public health intervention research and capacity building

Dr. Kiran Ahuja

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Human Life Sciences, University of Tasmania, Launceston 7250, Australia
Interests: nutrition, metabolism and chronic diseases (including coronary heart disease and diabetes)

Dr. Sisitha Jayasinghe

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Health Sciences, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7248, Australia
Interests: health sciences

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mitigating the global epidemic of overweight and obesity and related conditions is a top public health priority. Over the past two decades, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN agencies have proposed numerous policy directions including particular emphases on priority areas of childhood obesity prevention and food sustainability. Despite the best efforts of many, few countries have been successful in the prevention and management of obesity. Siloed intervention approaches, political inertia (at all levels of government), absence of sustainable partnerships with key industries, and the stigmatization of persons with obesity have stymied efforts to curtail the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity. An increased awareness and appreciation of the multifarious and complex nature of the etiology of obesity is evident such that, more recently, interventionists have acknowledged the merit of “whole of system approaches” to manage overweight and obesity. A vital component of a systems approach is the development of “community capacity”—the potential of communities to identify, mobilize, and effectively manage public health concerns. The focus of this Special Issue is on obesity prevention efforts using community capacity building strategies to develop knowledge, skills, structures, resources, and commitments to health improvement. We welcome a range of contributions including reviews and empirical studies that address effective community capacity building approaches to prevent and manage overweight and obesity. Topics of interest include:

Community capacity building;
Infant and childhood obesity;
Obesity prevention workforce;
Food accessibility and security;
Life course approach to obesity prevention;
Physical activity interventions;
Public health nutrition.

Prof. Dr. Andrew P. Hills
Prof. Dr. Roger Hughes
Dr. Kiran Ahuja
Dr. Sisitha Jayasinghe
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

obesity prevention
community capacity building
upstream intervention
public health policy
health promotion
whole systems approach
infant obesity
public health nutrition
prevention workforce

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

17 pages, 540 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment and Management of Obesity and Self-Maintenance (AMOS): An Evaluation of a Rural, Regional Multidisciplinary Program

by Sarah J. Prior, Sharon P. Luccisano, Michelle L. Kilpatrick and Giuliana O. Murfet

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 12894; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912894 - 08 Oct 2022

Viewed by 2075

Abstract

Obesity is common in rural areas, and reduced specialist healthcare access impedes its management. A pilot nurse-practitioner-led Assessment and Management of Obesity and Self-Maintenance (AMOS) Clinic focused on individualised obesity care in people living with type 2 diabetes delivered in a rural setting. This study aimed to explore participant and staff experiences of the multidisciplinary obesity clinic to identify barriers and facilitators to self-care, health, and well-being. A two-stage, mixed-method design was used. Initially, three focus groups involving a sample of AMOS participants and semi-structured staff interviews helped identify key barriers/facilitators. These findings informed a survey delivered to all AMOS participants. Qualitative data were analysed using an inductive two-step thematic networks technique to identify themes. Quantitative data were summarised using descriptive statistics. A total of 54 AMOS participants and 4 staff participated in the study. Four themes were identified to describe AMOS participant experiences’: 1. affordability; 2. multidisciplinary care; 3. person-centred care; and 4. motivation. Specialised, multidisciplinary and individualised obesity care available through one clinic facilitated self-care and improved health and well-being. Dedicated multidisciplinary obesity clinics are recommended in rural and remote areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Capacity Building: A Potential Solution for the Current Obesity Epidemic)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 1418 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Community Co-Design of Regional Actions for Children’s Nutritional Health Combining Indigenous Knowledge and Systems Thinking

by Pippa McKelvie-Sebileau, David Rees, David Tipene-Leach, Erica D’Souza, Boyd Swinburn and Sarah Gerritsen

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(9), 4936; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19094936 - 19 Apr 2022

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3448

Abstract

Children’s nutrition is highly influenced by community-level deprivation and socioeconomic inequalities and the health outcomes associated, such as childhood obesity, continue to widen. Systems Thinking using community-based system dynamics (CBSD) approaches can build community capacity, develop new knowledge and increase commitments to health improvement at the community level. We applied the formal structure and resources of a Group Model Building (GMB) approach, embedded within an Indigenous worldview to engage a high deprivation, high Indigenous population regional community in New Zealand to improve children’s nutrition. Three GMB workshops were held and the youth and adult participants created two systems map of the drivers and feedback loops of poor nutrition in the community. Māori Indigenous knowledge (mātauranga) and approaches (tikanga) were prioritized to ensure cultural safety of participants and to encourage identification of interventions that take into account social and cultural environmental factors. While the adult-constructed map focused more on the influence of societal factors such as cost of housing, financial literacy in communities, and social security, the youth-constructed map placed more emphasis on individual-environment factors such as the influence of marketing by the fast-food industry and mental wellbeing. Ten prioritized community-proposed interventions such as increasing cultural connections in schools, are presented with the feasibility and likely impact for change of each intervention rated by community leaders. The combination of community-based system dynamics methods of group model building and a mātauranga Māori worldview is a novel Indigenous systems approach that engages participants and highlights cultural and family issues in the systems maps, acknowledging the ongoing impact of historical colonization in our communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Capacity Building: A Potential Solution for the Current Obesity Epidemic)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 337 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Audit of Pre-Pregnancy Maternal Obesity and Diabetes Screening in Rural Regional Tasmania and Its Impact on Pregnancy and Neonatal Outcomes

by Sharon P. Luccisano, Heinrich C. Weber, Giuliana O. Murfet, Iain K. Robertson, Sarah J. Prior and Andrew P. Hills

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(22), 12006; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182212006 - 16 Nov 2021

Viewed by 1984

Abstract

Maternal obesity in pregnancy, a growing health problem in Australia, adversely affects both mothers and their offspring. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is similarly associated with adverse pregnancy and neonatal complications. A low-risk digital medical record audit of antenatal and postnatal data of 2132 pregnant mothers who gave birth between 2016–2018 residing in rural-regional Tasmania was undertaken. An expert advisory group guided the research and informed data collection. Fifty five percent of pregnant mothers were overweight or obese, 43.6% gained above the recommended standards for gestational weight gain and 35.8% did not have an oral glucose tolerance test. The audit identified a high prevalence of obesity among pregnant women and low screening rates for gestational diabetes mellitus associated with adverse maternal and neonatal pregnancy outcomes. We conclude that there is a high prevalence of overweight and obesity among pregnant women in rural regional Tasmania. Further GDM screening rates are low, which require addressing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Capacity Building: A Potential Solution for the Current Obesity Epidemic)

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Community Capacity Building: A Potential Solution for the Current Obesity Epidemic

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (3 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI