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| [Paper Type: Article] AND [Author: Irwin, Jennifer D PhD] (4) | 31 Mar 2025 |
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- Purpose: We examined the facilitators of and barriers to participants’ application of cooking skills beyond Cook It Up!, a pilot community-based cooking program targeting at-risk youth aged 13 to 18.Methods: Photovoice is a qualitative research method using still-picture cameras to document participants’ health and community realities. Four participants photographed items they perceived as facilitators of or barriers to the application of cooking skills. At a facilitated discussion group, youth discussed why they took certain pictures and how the photos best exemplified facilitators and barriers. Participants agreed upon the themes arising from the dialogue. Data trustworthiness tools were used to ensure that themes arising from the dialogue truly represented participants’ perspectives.Results: Four major themes emerged as facilitators: aptitude, food literacy, local and fresh ingredients, and connectedness. Access to unhealthy foods was the only barrier that participants identified. Participants and researchers decided to advocate for the sustainability of community-based cooking programs offered for high school credit. Participants’ photos would enhance advocacy efforts with education stakeholders.Conclusions: Cook It Up! provided youth with cooking techniques for healthy, economical, homemade meals, but proof was needed of the transferability of skills outside the program environment. Youth in this study identified important facilitators that enabled the continued use of their cooking skills, and one barrier. Findings underscore the importance of communitybased cooking programs tailored to at-risk youth.
- Purpose: A qualitative assessment was completed of overweight/ obese youths’ perceptions of the meaning of “healthy body weight,” barriers and facilitators to healthy body weight attainment, and what would effectively enhance and support their healthy body weight behaviours. Methods: This qualitative study targeted a sample of overweight and obese youth, aged 14 to 16 years. An experienced interviewer conducted 11 in-depth interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Three qualitative researchers conducted independent and simultaneous inductive content analysis to facilitate confirmability. Data trustworthiness was supported viamember checking, peer debriefing, and reflexive journalling. Results:Most participants characterized healthy body weight as a combination of healthy eating and regular physical activity. Some included a psychological dimension in the definition. Perceived facilitators of a healthy body weight included family support, access to nutritious food at home, physical activity encouragement, and a physical activity environment at school. Perceived barriers included lack of family support, a poor nutrition environment, an unsupportive school environment, time, self-esteem, and bullying. Participants identified preferences for an intervention that would include opportunities for unstructured coeducational recreational activities, coeducational nutrition education sessions, and a gender-specific discussion forum. Conclusions: Participants provided a wealth of information to form the foundation of future youth-focused efficacious healthy body weight interventions.
- Timothy J. Rush BSc, MSc,
- Victor Ng BA, MSc,
- Jennifer D. Irwin PhD,
- Larry W. Stitt MSc, and
- Meizi He PhD
Purpose: The degree of food insecurity and dietary intake was examined in adult Colombians who are new immigrants to Canada and use a food bank. Methods: In-person surveys were conducted on a convenience sample of 77 adult Colombian immigrant food bank users in London, Ontario. Degree of food insecurity was measured by the Radimer/Cornell questionnaire, food intakes by 24-hour recall, sociodemographics, and questionnaires about changes in dietary patterns before and after immigration. Results: Thirty-six men and 41 women participated in the study. Despite being highly educated, all respondents had experienced some form of food insecurity within the previous 30 days. The degree of food insecurity seems to be inversely associated with income and length of residency in Canada. Total daily energy intake was low, with a mean value of 1,568.3 ± 606.0 kcal (6,217.5 ± 2,336.4 kJ). In particular, a large proportion of participants consumed a diet low in fruits and vegetables (73%) and milk and dairy products (58%). Conclusions: Colombian immigrant food bank users new to Canada experience various degrees of food insecurity, which is associated with inadequate food intake. Interventions are needed to assist this population with adapting to society while concurrently sustaining healthy eating patterns.- Patricia Tucker MA,
- Jennifer D. Irwin PhD,
- Meizi He PhD,
- L. Michelle Sangster Bouck MA, and
- Graham Pollett MD, MHSc, FRCPC, FACPM
Purpose: Preschoolers’ dietary intake behaviours are described from the perspective of their parents. Methods: A maximum variation sample of 71 parents of preschoolers participated in this qualitative study. Ten semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted. Two experienced moderators facilitated all focus groups, which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Strategies to ensure trustworthiness of the data were employed throughout the study. Two team members independently performed inductive content analysis. NVivo software was used to code the emerging themes. Results: Parents identified food and food issues as key health-related behaviours among preschoolers. Parents discussed challenges to healthy eating, including time limitations and societal pressures, as well as methods for facilitating healthy food choices, including bribery, education, and being creative with food. Conclusions: Dietary intake is on the minds of preschoolers’ parents. Unfortunately, some methods that parents currently use to promote healthy food choices may be more detrimental than beneficial for children in the long term. Parents’ keen interest in their preschoolers’ eating habits may make them particularly receptive to learning about and facilitating healthy choices in more behaviourally appropriate ways. Widespread educational messages about the benefits and detriments of various strategies to facilitate healthy eating among preschoolers therefore seem warranted.
