ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) is a graphic technique to describe causal understanding in a wide range of applications. This practice review summarises the experience of a group of participatory research specialists and trainees who used FCM to include stakeholder views in addressing health challenges. From a meeting of the research group, this practice review reports 25 experiences with FCM in nine countries between 2016 and 2023. RESULTS: The methods, challenges and adjustments focus on participatory research practice. FCM portrayed multiple sources of knowledge: stakeholder knowledge, systematic reviews of literature, and survey data. Methodological advances included techniques to contrast and combine maps from different sources using Bayesian procedures, protocols to enhance the quality of data collection, and tools to facilitate analysis. Summary graphs communicating FCM findings sacrificed detail but facilitated stakeholder discussion of the most important relationships. We used maps not as predictive models but to surface and share perspectives of how change could happen and to inform dialogue. Analysis included simple manual techniques and sophisticated computer-based solutions. A wide range of experience in initiating, drawing, analysing, and communicating the maps illustrates FCM flexibility for different contexts and skill bases. CONCLUSIONS: A strong core procedure can contribute to more robust applications of the technique while adapting FCM for different research settings. Decision-making often involves choices between plausible interventions in a context of uncertainty and multiple possible answers to the same question. FCM offers systematic and traceable ways to document, contrast and sometimes to combine perspectives, incorporating stakeholder experience and causal models to inform decision-making. Different depths of FCM analysis open opportunities for applying the technique in skill-limited settings.
ABSTRACT
Data on adolescents' dietary intake are essential to improve their diets and nutrition. However, the availability of (high-quality) data on adolescents' dietary intake is scarce with great global differences. We conducted a systematic scoping review to investigate the availability, characteristics, and gaps in global adolescent dietary data, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses-Extension for Scoping Reviews checklist and guidelines (registered under PROSPERO no. 171170 https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/). We included peer-reviewed and grey literature articles (2010 onwards) on the dietary intake of male and female adolescents (10-24 y). Studies from all countries and languages and including any information related to types of food consumed, diet composition, dietary diversity, or meal patterns were considered. We excluded studies with insufficient methodological information, unclear description of population, samples sizes <25, school-based data sets containing <6 schools, and studies that focused on pregnant or unhealthy study populations. Data, including year(s) of data collection, age, gender, sample size, dietary assessment methods, number of food items/groups, study design, location, and representativeness, were extracted. A total of 52,889 titles were identified and 722 articles, describing 1,322 data sets, were retained for analysis. Nationally representative, detailed dietary data for adolescents aged 10-24 y are still lacking, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and low-income countries. Data quality and representativeness remain limited, highlighting the need for data disaggregation by age, gender, locality, comprehensive dietary information, and broader geographic coverage. A notable amount of data was available through grey literature, especially in data-scarce countries. The study underscores the importance of addressing adolescent nutrition, emphasizing the urgent need for more robust, accessible, and representative data on adolescents' dietary intake to support effective nutritional efforts.
