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Facing challenging times due to Covid-19 in portugal with remarkable enthusiasm by adolescents in youth alliances of the EU-H2020 Project CO-CREATE
Obesity Facts ; 14(SUPPL 1):48, 2021.
Article in English | EMBASE | ID: covidwho-1255695
ABSTRACT

Introduction:

Adolescence is a period where important lifestyle changes take place, accompanied by steep rises in obesity prevalence1. This is particularly relevant for Portugal as one third of 10-17-year-olds are overweight 2. Although adolescents are acknowledged as the next generation of adults, parents, workers, and decision makers3, and thus as an important target group for obesity prevention strategies, there are few examples where adolescents themselves are active actors in the development of such strategies. The CO-CREATE (CC) Project aims to involve young people in the policy-making process to effectively prevent obesity. We present one of the Project's stages (WP5), where youth alliances (YA) were established to develop policy ideas and how Covid-19 pandemic affected the project, in Portugal.

Methods:

For WP5, a common methodological protocol for the 5 European CC countries was based on youth-led participatory action research where youths (15-18 years old) used their new knowledge to co-create with researchers novel policy ideas to tackle obesity. This stage included face to face meetings from December 2019 and, by March 2020, these were forced to stop due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As a solution to continue with the progress of the YA, an online approach was immediately established with regular contact with the youth to keep them engaged. Additionally, to accommodate some of the needs raised by the YA, E-books on the related topics were shared as well as Q&A sessions (about 90 min each) were arranged.

Results:

Out of the almost 40 adolescents enrolled in the Portuguese YA, all remaining online sessions in WP5, were participated by more than 80% of the adolescents, in each. A total of 5 Q&A sessions were conducted online on a weekly basis, from mid-March until April 2020, where young professionals experienced in several fields (namely nutritionists, a physical activity expert, a psychologist and a member of youth organizations) helped discussing and strengthening the YA policy ideas proposals. The 5 online Q&A sessions had an average participation of 16 teens per session.

Conclusion:

The Covid-19 pandemic and the challenges imposed by it proved to be an opportunity to include new dynamics into CC. The online approach was successful in maintaining the youth engaged and ensuring the progress of the policy development process, which will culminate in the discussion of the policy ideas between the youth and relevant stakeholders in the upcoming stage of the project. Thus, the YA members showed a swift adaptation and remarkable dedication to the project without compromising its objectives even during these challenging times.

Full text: Available Collection: Databases of international organizations Database: EMBASE Language: English Journal: Obesity Facts Year: 2021 Document Type: Article

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Full text: Available Collection: Databases of international organizations Database: EMBASE Language: English Journal: Obesity Facts Year: 2021 Document Type: Article