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Purpose This study aimed to systematically develop an obesity prevention program for adolescents to promote healthy eating and physical activity in schools. Methods The development of the Let's Eat Healthy and Move at School program for adolescents followed the six steps of intervention mapping (IM). IM is a widely used protocol for developing systematic and effective interventions based on theories and evidence. Results To better understand the problem and identify the needs of adolescents, interviews were conducted with teachers, school nurses, and students (step 1). In step 2, the desired behaviors and their determinants were established and combined into a matrix comprising 16 change objectives. In step 3, theoretical methods such as persuasive communication and consciousness-raising were chosen. The program was segmented into three educational activity sessions in step 4. In step 5, an implementation manual was developed for program instructors to ensure effective and accurate implementation. Finally, practices for evaluating the program's effectiveness and procedures were designed in step 6. Conclusion The Let’s Eat Healthy and Move at School program will provide adolescents with guidelines to promote healthy living and prevent obesity in everyday life using strategies for sustainable adolescent obesity prevention and management.

Purpose Community child centers (CCCs) were introduced to provide after-school activities and care, including meal services to children from low-income families. The assistant cooks, who have the main responsibility for making and serving food at CCCs, are a major factor influencing the eating habits of children using CCCs. In this study, we tried to identify and understand who the assistant cooks are, what their job responsibilities are, and what they need in order to be able to provide children with healthy meals. Methods Three focus group interviews were held with 17 workfare program participants who worked as assistant cooks at CCCs, and content analysis methods were applied using the NVivo 12 qualitative data analysis software. Results The assistant cooks reflected on their perceptions of the children’s health at the CCCs, their own cooking style, and their role at the CCCs. Additionally, barriers to the optimal provision of their services were pointed out, and improvements were suggested. Conclusion The results of this study can be used as a fundamental resource for the development of tailored interventions that consider a child’s unique environment to address health disparities, specifically with respect to childhood obesity.

Purpose This study was conducted to investigate nurses’ perceptions and performance of family-centered care (FCC) at a children’s hospital in Sri Lanka and to explore the feasibility of implementing FCC in the context of the Sri Lankan healthcare system. Methods A convergent, parallel, mixed-methods design was applied to understand Sri Lankan nurses’ perspectives on FCC. In total, 157 nurses working at a large teritagy children’s hospital responded to a self-report survey and 18 nurses participated in focus group interviews. Results Of the factors of FCC, family participation in caring for children received the highest score (4.09±0.51) for perceptions, and information-sharing received the highest score (3.54±0.55) for performance. The qualitative data revealed the following five themes: (a) importance of the family in caring for children; (b) helping families during children’s hospitalization; (c) taking steps to implement FCC, even with imperfect knowledge; (d) barriers in the current situation; and (e) suggested strategies to promote FCC. Conclusion Participants endorsed the concept of FCC and demonstrated some aspects of it in their day-to-day practice. The results indicate a clear knowledge deficit and several challenges, which need to be addressed to effectively implement FCC.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify trends in health-related interventions on children attending Community Child Care (CCC) centers, which are part of a health policy to provide after-school care for vulnerable children in South Korea. Methods: From 2007, 109 papers were analyzed using the scoping study method. Results: The number of studies increased steadily between 2007 and 2016. Most studies were based on the social sciences, and the participants were mainly elementary school students. Psychological and social interventions were the most common types of interventions with socio-psychological indicators as measurements. In addition, only a few studies had a clearly defined conceptual framework. The majority of studies did not explicitly indicate that they followed ethical considerations. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop health-related interventions for children attending CCC centers using diverse subjects, types, and evaluation methods, along with improvements in the quality of research methodology. Furthermore, it is essential to clearly articulate and implement ethical considerations in research targeting vulnerable children.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the ecological factors influencing school adjustment of adolescents from low-income families. Methods: Secondary data analysis was performed using data of 1,321 low-income adolescents in 123 regions found on the Survey on Service Satisfaction with Community Child Care Center. Results: The results of multi-level analysis identified the factors influencing school adjustment of low-income adolescents as follows: individual-level factors were gender, grade in school, and emotional problem; an interpersonal-level factor was family structure; organizational-level factors were length of time attending center and satisfaction with the service of the center; community-level factors were region and perception of community. Conclusion: The results suggest that low-income adolescents’ adjustment to school is influenced not only by individual factors but also by diverse environmental factors. Community factors suggest that more education support systems and leisure facilities for adolescents need to be built in small and medium cities. Strategies to enhance positive perception of community are also needed for this population. Further, it is necessary to develop multi-level interventions to improve the school adjustment of adolescents from vulnerable social groups.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify trends in intervention studies on childhood obesity in Korea. Methods: From 1996, when the first research paper on childhood obesity intervention was published, to 2015, 192 published papers were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The number of studies increased sharply between 1996 and 2007, but declined slightly from then. The majority of studies involved only children as intervention participants. Most were elementary students, and overweight and obese children. Exercise therapy was the most common type of intervention. Parental participation was found in 35 studies, while teacher's participation was found in only one study. In many studies physiological indicators were used as measurement variables, but follow-up was done in only 10 studies. Finally, only a few studies applied a conceptual framework, while a quasi-experimental research design was used for most studies. Conclusion: Examination of trends in intervention studies on childhood obesity in Korea, shows there has been a quantitative increase but not enough improvement in terms of the quality of interventions. Findings in the present study suggest that it is necessary to seek diversity in terms of study participants, interventions and evaluation method along with quality improvement in research methodology.