Using mobile technology to impact fruit and vegetable consumption in low-income youth

The benefits of fruits and vegetables (FV) include supplying nutrients and fiber to the diet, reducing risk of disease, and assisting in weight maintenance by increasing satiety and decreasing energy density of the diet. FV intake has been inadequate compared to national recommendations across the population and interventions to increase FV intake in pediatric populations have shown mixed results. This study utilized mobile health technology (mHealth, handheld computers) to deliver an Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI) incorporating behavior change skills (e.g., goal setting, self-monitoring, problem-solving, feedback, and reward) called Growing up Strong (GuS) to increase FV consumption in low-income, ethnic minority children and adolescent girls. Compared to a paper manual control condition, participants randomized to GuS significantly increased their fruit and combined FV, but not vegetable intake from Baseline to end of intervention (Week 4). Follow-up at Week 12 showed that all treatment gains had been lost. Adherence to the electronic program was high, with participants interacting with the program on 81.1% of days and answering 50.4% of the 6 daily program prompts over the 28 days of the intervention. Results indicate an EMI is acceptable to female youth and can help boost FV intake. Creating fun FV intervention programs that can sustain interest for longevity of use might have a greater impact by preventing immediate return to previous intake levels and reinforcing longer-term lifestyle change. Recommendations are provided for integrating FV intervention into larger multiple health behavior change (MHBC) programs to increase impact on weight management and health outcomes

The Emerging Global Tobacco Treatment Workforce: Characteristics of Tobacco Treatment Specialists Trained in Council-Accredited Training Programs from 2017 to 2019

Tobacco use is projected to kill 1 billion people in the 21st century. Tobacco Use Disorder (TUD) is one of the most common substance use disorders in the world. Evidence-based treatment of TUD is effective, but treatment accessibility remains very low. A dearth of specially trained clinicians is a significant barrier to treatment accessibility, even within systems of care that implement brief intervention models. The treatment of TUD is becoming more complex and tailoring treatment to address new and traditional tobacco products is needed. The Council for Tobacco Treatment Training Programs (Council) is the accrediting body for Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) training programs. Between 2016 and 2019, n = 7761 trainees completed Council-accredited TTS training programs. Trainees were primarily from North America (92.6%) and the Eastern Mediterranean (6.1%) and were trained via in-person group workshops in medical and academic settings. From 2016 to 2019, the number of Council-accredited training programs increased from 14 to 22 and annual number of trainees increased by 28.5%. Trainees have diverse professional backgrounds and work in diverse settings but were primarily White (69.1%) and female (78.7%) located in North America. Nearly two-thirds intended to implement tobacco treatment services in their setting; two-thirds had been providing tobacco treatment for 1 year or less; and 20% were sent to training by their employers. These findings suggest that the training programs are contributing to the development of a new workforce of TTSs as well as the development of new programmatic tobacco treatment services in diverse settings. Developing strategies to support attendance from demographically and geographically diverse professionals might increase the proportion of trainees from marginalized groups and regions of the world with significant tobacco-related inequities

The Emerging Global Tobacco Treatment Workforce: Characteristics of Tobacco Treatment Specialists Trained in Council-Accredited Training Programs from 2017 to 2019

Tobacco use is projected to kill 1 billion people in the 21st century. Tobacco Use Disorder (TUD) is one of the most common substance use disorders in the world. Evidence-based treatment of TUD is effective, but treatment accessibility remains very low. A dearth of specially trained clinicians is a significant barrier to treatment accessibility, even within systems of care that implement brief intervention models. The treatment of TUD is becoming more complex and tailoring treatment to address new and traditional tobacco products is needed. The Council for Tobacco Treatment Training Programs (Council) is the accrediting body for Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) training programs. Between 2016 and 2019, = 7761 trainees completed Council-accredited TTS training programs. Trainees were primarily from North America (92.6%) and the Eastern Mediterranean (6.1%) and were trained via in-person group workshops in medical and academic settings. From 2016 to 2019, the number of Council-accredited training programs increased from 14 to 22 and annual number of trainees increased by 28.5%. Trainees have diverse professional backgrounds and work in diverse settings but were primarily White (69.1%) and female (78.7%) located in North America. Nearly two-thirds intended to implement tobacco treatment services in their setting; two-thirds had been providing tobacco treatment for 1 year or less; and 20% were sent to training by their employers. These findings suggest that the training programs are contributing to the development of a new workforce of TTSs as well as the development of new programmatic tobacco treatment services in diverse settings. Developing strategies to support attendance from demographically and geographically diverse professionals might increase the proportion of trainees from marginalized groups and regions of the world with significant tobacco-related inequities