Multisectoral interventions for urban health in Africa: a mixed-methods systematic review.

Increasing evidence suggests that urban health objectives are best achieved through a multisectoral approach. This approach requires multiple sectors to consider health and well-being as a central aspect of their policy development and implementation, recognising that numerous determinants of health lie outside (or beyond the confines of) the health sector. However, collaboration across sectors remains scarce and multisectoral interventions to support health are lacking in Africa.

Multi-country collaborative citizen science projects to co-design cardiovascular disease prevention strategies and advocacy: findings from Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, and South Africa.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) were responsible for 20.5 million annual deaths globally in 2021, with a disproportionally high burden in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There is growing evidence of the use of citizen science and co-design approaches in developing interventions in different fields, but less so in the context of CVD prevention interventions in SSA.

Implementing and Evaluating Community Health Worker-Led Cardiovascular Disease Risk Screening Intervention in Sub-Saharan Africa Communities: A Participatory Implementation Research Protocol.

The increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) poses a considerable threat to public health. Community-driven CVD risk screening, referral and follow-up of those at high CVDs risk is essential to supporting early identification, treatment and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events such as stroke and myocardial infarction. This protocol describes a multi-country study that aims to implement and evaluate a community health worker (CHW)-led CVD risk screening programme to enhance referral linkages within the local primary care systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), using a participatory implementation science approach.

Perceived cardiovascular disease risk and tailored communication strategies among rural and urban community dwellers in Rwanda: a qualitative study.

Background: In Rwanda, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the third leading cause of death, and hence constitute an important public health issue. Worldwide, most CVDs are due to lifestyle and preventable risk factors. Prevention interventions are based on risk factors for CVD risk, yet the outcome of such interventions might be limited by the lack of awareness or misconception of CVD risk.

Socioeconomic and gendered inequities in travel behaviour in Africa: Mixed-method systematic review and meta-ethnography.

Travel has individual, societal and planetary health implications. We explored socioeconomic and gendered differences in travel behaviour in Africa, to develop an understanding of travel-related inequity. We conducted a mixed-methods systematic review (PROSPERO CRD42019124802).

Adolescent Levers for a Diet and Physical Activity Intervention Across Socioecological Levels in Kenya, South Africa, Cameroon, and Jamaica: Mixed Methods Study Protocol.

Background: The increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases that are prevalent in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is largely attributed to modifiable behavioral risk factors such as unhealthy diets and insufficient physical activity (PA). The adolescent stage, defined as 10 to 24 years of age, is an important formative phase of life and offers an opportunity to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases across the life course and for future generations.

Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe a protocol for a study using a convergent mixed methods design to explore exposures in the household, neighborhood, school, and the journey from home to school that may influence diet and PA behaviors in adolescents from LMICs.

The Relationship between Physical Activity and the Objectively-Measured Built Environment in Low- and High-Income South African Communities.

Unlabelled: There is limited data concerning the built environment and physical activity (PA) in a country with a history of sociopolitically motivated, spatial and economic disparities. We explored the extent to which objectively measured attributes of the built environment were associated with self-report or device-measured PA in low- and high-socioeconomic status (SES) communities.

Methods: In a convenient sample of residents ( = 52, aged 18-65 years) from four urban suburbs in low- and high-income settings near Cape Town, South Africa, self-reported transport- and leisure-time PA, and device-measured moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) data were collected.

The Science of Scale for Violence Prevention: A New Agenda for Family Strengthening in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Ending all violence against children by 2030 is a core part of Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 16. A number of promising violence reduction strategies have been identified in research studies. However, we lack an understanding of the implementation and impact of these programs in respect to their delivery at a large scale or within existing service systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Community-driven citizen science approach to explore cardiovascular disease risk perception, and develop prevention advocacy strategies in sub-Saharan Africa: a programme protocol.

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which experiences a disproportionately high cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden, population-based screening and prevention measures are hampered by low levels of knowledge about CVD and associated risk factors, and inaccurate perceptions of severity of risk.

Methods: This protocol describes the planned processes for implementing community-driven participatory research, using a citizen science method to explore CVD risk perceptions and to develop community-specific advocacy and prevention strategies in the rural and urban SSA settings. Multi-disciplinary research teams in four selected African countries will engage with and train community members living in rural and urban communities as citizen scientists to facilitate conceptualization, co-designing of research, data gathering, and co-creation of knowledge that can lead to a shared agenda to support collaborative participation in community-engaged science.

Evaluating the dissemination and scale-up of two evidence-based parenting interventions to reduce violence against children: study protocol.

Background: Eliminating violence against children is a prominent policy goal, codified in the Sustainable Development Goals, and parenting programs are one approach to preventing and reducing violence. However, we know relatively little about dissemination and scale-up of parenting programs, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The scale-up of two parenting programs, Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) for Young Children and PLH for Parents and Teens, developed under Creative Commons licensing and tested in randomized trials, provides a unique opportunity to study their dissemination in 25 LMICs.

Food purchasing behaviour of shoppers from different South African socio-economic communities: results from grocery receipts, intercept surveys and in-supermarkets audits.

Objective: To identify factors associated with food purchasing decisions and expenditure of South African supermarket shoppers across income levels.

Design: Intercept surveys were conducted, grocery receipts collated and expenditure coded into categories, with each category calculated as percentage of the total expenditure. In-supermarket food quality audit and shelf space measurements of foods such as fruits and vegetables (F&V) (healthy foods), snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) (unhealthy foods) were also assessed.

A citizen science approach to determine perceived barriers and promoters of physical activity in a low-income South African community.

The study's objective was to assess the feasibility of using citizen science to identify and address physical activity (PA) barriers in a low-income South African community. We purposively selected as citizen scientists, eleven participants (21-45 years) from a cohort study who expressed interest in becoming physically active or were already active. They used the Stanford Neighborhood Discovery Tool mobile application to take photos and provide audio narratives of factors in their community that were barriers to or facilitated PA.

Weight underestimation and body size dissatisfaction among black African adults with obesity: Implications for health promotion.

Background: Body image perception has an impact on modifiable cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, lifestyle and psychological health in many populations.

Aim: To assess weight discordance (underestimating own weight) and body size dissatisfaction (perceiving body size as either 'too small' or 'too large') among overweight and obese South Africans, the associated factors and the implications for health promotion.

Setting: A rural community and an urban township in two provinces of South Africa.

Low intake of commonly available fruits and vegetables in socio-economically disadvantaged communities of South Africa: influence of affordability and sugary drinks intake.

Background: Consumption of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of obesity, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality. The study assessed the pattern of intake and the factors that influence daily intake of commonly available fruits and vegetables in economically disadvantaged South African communities.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study nested on an ongoing longitudinal study in South Africa.

A modified Delphi study towards developing a guideline to inform policy on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in South Africa: a study protocol.

Introduction: Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy can result in mental and physical birth defects in individuals. These birth defects are usually described as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). With an estimated 183-259 per 1000 children born with FASDs, South Africa is identified to have the highest prevalence of FASDs in the world.

Perceptions of body size, obesity threat and the willingness to lose weight among black South African adults: a qualitative study.

Background: The obesity epidemic is associated with rising rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among adults, particularly in countries undergoing rapid urbanisation and nutrition transition. This study explored the perceptions of body size, obesity risk awareness, and the willingness to lose weight among adults in a resource-limited urban community to inform appropriate community-based interventions for the prevention of obesity.

Method: This is a descriptive qualitative study.

Factors Associated with Excessive Body Fat in Men and Women: Cross-Sectional Data from Black South Africans Living in a Rural Community and an Urban Township.

Objective: To determine the factors associated with excessive body fat among black African men and women living in rural and urban communities of South Africa.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study, Cape Town, South Africa conducted in 2009/2010. The study sample included 1220 participants (77.

Knowledge, attitudes and experiences of sex trafficking by young women in Benin City, South-South Nigeria.

Benin City, the headquarters of Edo State, is known to have one of the highest rates of international sex trafficking of young women in Nigeria. This study was designed to determine the knowledge, attitudes and experiences of young women in Benin City, towards international sex trafficking. A random household sample of 1456 women aged 15-25 years was interviewed with a structured questionnaire that elicited information on women's experiences of, and attitudes towards international sex trafficking.