Feasibility Testing of a Health Literacy Intervention With Adolescents and Young Adults in South Africa: The LifeLab Soweto Programme.

Introduction: Low health literacy levels during adolescence and young adulthood (AYA) may impact acute healthcare access and longer-term health outcomes. Previous research in South African AYA suggests that health literacy levels are typically suboptimal but few interventions exist. This study aimed to test the acceptability and feasibility of a co-created, interactive health literacy intervention (LifeLab-Soweto) with AYA in Soweto, South Africa.

The Role of the Public Health Workforce in Securing Political Commitment for Tackling Childhood Obesity in Local Government.

Local government is well placed to provide leadership for the national ambition in England to halve childhood obesity by 2030 and has delegated authority for many policies thought necessary for effective action. However, with currently constrained local government finances, resources may not be prioritized for the wide range of policies and interventions necessary. Thus, local political commitment is vital for directing local government investment to tackle the issue.

Projected health and economic effects of the increase in childhood obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic in England: The potential cost of inaction.

Background: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in young children rose sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we estimate the potential future health and economic effects of these trends in England.

Methods: Using publicly available annual Body Mass Index (BMI) data from 2006-2022, we calculated the increase in overweight/obesity prevalence (BMI ≥85th reference percentile) during the COVID-19 pandemic among children aged 4-5 and 10-11, and variation by deprivation and ethnicity.

How do local authority plans to tackle obesity reflect systems thinking?

Aims: A whole systems approach to tackling obesity has been recommended by Public Health England for several years. This qualitative study aimed to investigate whether systems thinking is reflected in local authority plans and strategies to tackle obesity, using the leverage points for intervention in a complex system, as a framework.

Method: We sought to identify obesity strategies/plans for Southampton and 19 other local authority comparators (based on children's services and Office for National Statistics data).