Inequities in sleep duration and quality among adolescents in Canada.

Background: Several recent global events may have impacted adolescent sleep and exacerbated pre-existing disparities by social positions (i.e., social roles, identity or sociodemographic factors, and/or group memberships that are associated with power and oppression due to the structures and processes in a given society at given time).

Physical activity and recreational screen time change among adolescents in Canada: Examining the impact of COVID-19 in worsening inequity.

The purpose of this study was to assess if sub-populations of adolescents in Canada (i.e., race/ethnicity, sex/gender, and socioeconomic status [SES]) experienced a larger change in physical activity and screen time between the 2019-2020 (pre-pandemic) and the 2020-2021 (mid-pandemic) school years.

Rising through the pandemic: a scoping review of quality improvement in public health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic generated a growing interest in and need for evidence-based tools to facilitate the implementation of emergency management strategies within public health practice. Quality improvement (QI) is a key framework and philosophy to guide organizational emergency response efforts; however, the nature and extent to which it has been used in public health settings during the COVID-19 pandemic remains unclear.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review of literature published January 2020 - February 2021 and focused on the topic of QI at public health agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exploring Factors Contributing to the Implementation of Ontario's Healthy Kids Community Challenge: Surveys and Key Stakeholder Interviews with Program Providers.

(1) Background: To explore factors contributing to the Healthy Kids Community Challenge (HKCC) program implementation; (2) Methods: Data were collected through a quantitative survey (n = 124) and in-depth telephone interviews (n = 16) with program providers. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for thematic analysis using NVivo; (3) Results: Provincial funding and in-kind support from community partners were key. Initiatives were feasible to implement, and key messages were well-received by communities.

Bi-directional relationships between physical activity and mental health among a large sample of Canadian youth: a sex-stratified analysis of students in the COMPASS study.

Objective: The aim of this research was to examine the bidirectional association between self-reported symptoms of mental disorder and physical activity among a large sample of Canadian secondary school students over time.

Methods: Linked survey data were obtained from 28,567 grade 9 to 12 students across Canada participating in two waves of the COMPASS Study (2017-18; 2018-19). Autoregressive cross-lagged models were run to examine the reciprocal relationships between self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and symptoms of depression (CESD-10) and anxiety (GAD-7).

Weight control intentions and mental health among Canadian adolescents: a gender-based analysis of students in the COMPASS study.

Introduction: Little is known about gender differences in associations between weight control intentions and mental health in adolescents. Our objective was to examine these associations in a large sample of adolescent girls and boys.

Methods: Using data from Year 6 (2017-18) of the COMPASS study (n = 57 324), we performed a series of multivariable linear regressions to examine whether weight control intentions (gain, lose, stay the same, no intention) were associated with depression, anxiety and self-concept, while adjusting for relevant covariates including body mass index.

Can We Reverse this Trend? Exploring Health and Risk Behaviours of Grade 12 Cohorts of Ontario Students from 2013-2019.

Adolescents engage in multiple health risk behaviours that put them at risk of future chronic disease. By the time students graduate from secondary school, they may be engaging in behaviours that set them on a particular health trajectory. It is important to monitor the co-occurrence of health risk behaviours of cohorts of grade 12 students over time to highlight important areas for intervention.

Priority setting for school nutrition research: developing a collaborative research agenda.

Priority setting in health research can assist stakeholders to identify research and policies that have the greatest potential for benefits to public health. Priority setting has been utilized by researchers to identify barriers, facilitators, and recommendations for future public health research. This commentary describes how a priority-setting approach was used as part of a workshop activity on the school nutrition environment in Ontario, Canada, to facilitate brainstorming, sorting, and rating of concepts related to the school nutrition environment.

An early implementation assessment of Ontario's Healthy Kids Community Challenge: results from a survey of key stakeholders.

Background: In Ontario Canada, the Healthy Kids Community Challenge (HKCC) is a program intended to reduce the prevalence and prevent childhood overweight and obesity through community-based initiatives to improve health behaviours. Guided by the RE-AIM framework and Durlak and DuPre's Ecological Framework for Understanding Effective Implementation, the evaluation focused on two objectives: 1) to describe the organization of the program at the community level; and, 2) to identify opportunities for improvement through an early assessment of factors contributing to implementation.

Methods: Participants (n = 320) - members of the HKCC local steering committee, including the local project manager - completed a cross-sectional survey using SurveyMonkey and descriptive statistics were calculated.

Noncomprehensive and Intermittent Obesity-Related School Programs and Policies May Not Work: Evidence from the COMPASS Study.

Background: The school environment has the potential to influence student body mass index (BMI) through programs and policies. Our objective was to examine the effect of modifying obesity-related school policies and programs on youths' BMI trajectories.

Methods: Obesity-related school policies and programs related to physical activity and healthy eating were collected from 41 schools across Ontario at baseline (2012-2013) and year 2 (2013-2014) of the COMPASS study.

Behavioural patterns only predict concurrent BMI status and not BMI trajectories in a sample of youth in Ontario, Canada.

Background: Youth are engaging in multiple risky behaviours, increasing their risk of overweight, obesity, and related chronic diseases. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of engaging in unique clusters of unhealthy behaviours on youths' body mass index (BMI) trajectories.

Methods: This study used a linked-longitudinal sample of Grades 9 and 10 students (13 to 17 years of age) participating in the COMPASS host study.

Do school physical activity policies and programs have a role in decreasing multiple screen time behaviours among youth?

Screen time in youth has been associated with a wide range of poor health outcomes. Evidence indicates the need to develop physical activity (PA) school policies and programs that are aimed at decreasing youth screen time behaviours. This study aims to understand the association between PA policies and programs embedded into the functioning of 89 schools across two provinces in Canada and multiple screen time behaviours.

Clustering of risk-related modifiable behaviours and their association with overweight and obesity among a large sample of youth in the COMPASS study.

Background: Canadian youth exhibit a number of risky behaviours, some of which are associated with overweight and obesity. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of 15 modifiable risk behaviours in a large sample of Canadian youth, to identify underlying subgroups based on patterns of health behaviours, and to examine the association between identified subgroups and overweight/obesity.

Methods: Data from 18,587 grades 9-12 students in Year 1 (2012-13) of the COMPASS study and latent class analysis were used to identify patterns and clustering among 15 health behaviours (e.

An analysis of weight perception and physical activity and dietary behaviours among youth in the COMPASS study.

Purpose: Weight misperceptions appear common among youth, potentially influencing their motivation to engage in health-related behaviours; however, the direction of impact remains unclear. The current study examined how weight perception influences physical activity (PA) and diet among youth.

Methods: This study used 2-year linked data of 19,322 grade 9-12 students from Year 2 (Y:2013-2014) and 3 (Y:2014-2015) of the COMPASS study.

The COMPASS study: a longitudinal hierarchical research platform for evaluating natural experiments related to changes in school-level programs, policies and built environment resources.

Background: Few researchers have the data required to adequately understand how the school environment impacts youth health behaviour development over time.

Methods/design: COMPASS is a prospective cohort study designed to annually collect hierarchical longitudinal data from a sample of 90 secondary schools and the 50,000+ grade 9 to 12 students attending those schools. COMPASS uses a rigorous quasi-experimental design to evaluate how changes in school programs, policies, and/or built environment (BE) characteristics are related to changes in multiple youth health behaviours and outcomes over time.

The proportion of excessive fast-food consumption attributable to the neighbourhood food environment among youth living within 1 km of their school.

The study objective was to estimate the proportion of excessive fast-food consumption by youth that is attributable to living and attending school in a neighbourhood with a moderate or high density of fast-food restaurants. This was a cross-sectional study of 6099 Canadian youths (aged 11-15 years) from 255 school neighbourhoods. All participants lived within 1 km of their school.

Food and eating environments: in Canadian schools.

Purpose: This national study was conducted to examine healthy eating programs, healthy eating education, and the food retail environments of schools.

Methods: A total of 436 Canadian schools were studied. Administrators completed a questionnaire designed to assess school healthy eating programs, healthy eating education, and food retail environment.

The proportion of youths' physical inactivity attributable to neighbourhood built environment features.

Objective: We investigated the independent association between several neighbourhood built environment features and physical inactivity within a national sample of Canadian youth, and estimated the proportion of inactivity within the population that was attributable to these built environment features.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 6626 youth aged 11-15 years from 272 schools across Canada. Participants resided within 1 km of their school.

Reliability and validity of the weight status and dietary intake measures in the COMPASS questionnaire: are the self-reported measures of body mass index (BMI) and Canada's food guide servings robust?

Background: The COMPASS study is designed to follow a cohort of ~30,000 grade 9 to 12 students attending ~60 secondary schools for four years to understand how changes in school characteristics (policies, programs, built environment) are associated with changes in youth health behaviours. Since the student-level questionnaire for COMPASS (Cq) is designed to facilitate multiple large-scale school-based data collections using passive consent procedures, the Cq is only comprised of self-reported measures. The present study assesses the 1-week (1 wk) test-retest reliability and the concurrent validity of the Cq measures for weight status and dietary intake.