Lifting urban mobility for the poor: Cable-cars, travel satisfaction and subjective well-being

Studies on travel and life satisfaction in vulnerable Global South contexts are scarce. This paper contributes by addressing how travel satisfaction, neighborhood satisfaction, and social capital relate to life satisfaction among a low-income community in Bogotá (Colombia) as a case study. Building on the available literature, we propose six hypotheses to understand such relationships before and after a cable car implementation, considering control and treatment groups. We defined seven latent variables and three objective indicators. We tested the hypotheses using a multiple-cause multiple-indicator modeling approach, which allowed us to identify how the comprehensive cable car intervention impacts perceptions and life satisfaction. Results showed that the principal factors associated with life satisfaction were neighborhood satisfaction as well as leisure activity participation, while travel time and transport affordability had negative effects. Positive changes in satisfaction regarding the travel experience can trigger significant improvements in life satisfaction in low-income communities in Latin America

Implementation of childhood obesity prevention and control policies in the United States and Latin America: Lessons for cross-border research and practice

Progress has been made in the development and widespread implementation of effective interventions to address childhood obesity, yet important challenges remain. To understand how the United States and Latin American countries achieved success in implementing obesity policies and programs (PAPs) and identify improvement opportunities using implementation science principles. We identified three comparative case studies: (1) front-of-food package labeling (Mexico and Chile); (2) Open Streets/play streets (Colombia and the United States); and (3) the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (Brazil and the United States). Information from multiple sources (e.g., scientific and gray literature and key informant interviews) was synthesized to describe barriers, facilitators, and progress of PAPs across RE-AIM framework dimensions. Evidence-based advocacy along with political will and evidence of scalability and impact were key for successful launch and implementation of all PAPs. Diverse adaptations of PAP design and implementation had to be done across contexts. Stronger process and impact monitoring and evaluation systems that track equity indicators are needed to maximize the population benefits of these PAPs. Implementation science offers an important contribution toward addressing knowledge gaps, enhancing obesity policy dialogue, and producing transferable lessons across the Americas and, therefore, should be used for research and evaluation during PAP development and throughout the implementation and maintenance phases

Effects of a strategy for the promotion of physical activity in students from Bogotá

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of the promotion of physical activity during recess on the levels of physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and adiposity of Colombian students. METHODS: Three schools were randomly selected by an intervention group in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2013: Intervention (Active Module of Active Recess – MARA) + Text Messages (SMS) (MARA+SMS group), intervention (MARA group), control (control group). Intervention was implemented for ten weeks. The duration and intensity of physical activity and sedentary behaviors were measured objectively using accelerometers Actigraph-GT3X+. Adiposity was measured by body mass index and fat percentage. We measured at baseline (T0) and during the tenth week of intervention (T1). We evaluated the effect of the intervention using a difference-in-difference analysis (DID). RESULTS: We included 120 students (57.5% girls; mean age = 10.5 years; standard deviation [SD] = 0.64). There was a significant increase in the mean daily minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity in the MARA group (Difference T1-T0 = 6.1 minutes, standard error [SE] = 3.49, p = 0.005) in relation to the control group. There were no significant changes in the minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity in the MARA+SMS group (Difference T1-T0 = -1.0 minute; SE = 3.06; p = 0.363). The minutes decreased in the control group (Difference T1-T0 = -7.7 minutes; SE = 3.15; p = 0.011). The minutes of sedentary behaviors decreased in the MARA and MARA+SMS groups and increased in the control group (MARA Difference T1-T0 = -15.8 minutes; SE = 10.05; p= 0.279; MARA+SMS Difference T1-T0 = -11.5 minutes; SE = 8.80; p= 0.869; Control Difference T1-T0 = 10.9 minutes; SE = 9.07; p = 0.407). There was a higher participation in the MARA group in relation to the MARA+SMS group (MARA group = 34.4%; MARA+SMS group = 12.1%). There were no significant changes in adiposity at 10 weeks according to difference-in-differences analysis (body mass index p: ΔMARA+SMS group versus Δcontrol group = 0.945, ΔMARA group versus Δcontrol group = 0.847, ΔMARA+SMS group versus ΔMARA group = 0.990; FP p ΔMARA+SMS group versus Δcontrol group = 0.788, ΔMARA group versus Δcontrol group = 0.915, ΔMARA+SMS group versus ΔMARA group = 0.975). CONCLUSIONS: The Active Module of Active Recess is a promising strategy to increase physical activity levels and decrease sedentary behavior in students. The addition of Text Messages was not associated with increased moderate to vigorous physical activity or changes in adiposit

Niveles de actividad física de la población colombiana: desigualdades por sexo y condición socioeconómica

Introduction: Worldwide studies show inequalities in physical activity levels related to socio-demographic characteristics. In Colombia, among the countries in Latin America with the highest inequality, the evidence related to inequalities in physical activity is limited. It is imperative to identify disparities in physical activity in the country, to guide the design of public policies aimed at promoting physical activity.Objectives: 1) To estimate the prevalence and associated factors of meeting physical activity recommendations; 2) to assess inequalities by gender and socioeconomic status in meeting physical activity recommendations, and 3) to assess the trends in physical activity prevalence within a five-year period.Materials and methods: A secondary analysis of data from the 2010 National Nutrition Survey was conducted. The sample included 27,243 adults. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to measure leisure time and transport domains. Socioeconomic status was measured by the Sisben level.Results: Compared to men, women were less likely to meet physical activity recommendations in all domains. Compared to adults from high socioeconomic-status households, low socioeconomic-status adults had a lower prevalence of meeting physical activity recommendations during leisure time and the highest prevalence of using a bicycle for transport. The factors associated with meeting physical activity recommendations differed by gender and physical activity domain. Household and individual variables explained 13.6% of the inequalities observed by gender, and 23.2% of the inequalities by socioeconomic status. In a five-year period, the prevalence of physical activity in leisure time decreased, while the physical activity of walking for transport increased and biking for transport did not change.Conclusions: Future interventions to increase physical activity levels in Colombia must consider inequalities by gender and socioeconomic status. Of special concern is the low prevalence of meeting physical activity recommendations during leisure time in both women and in the low socioeconomic status population.Introducción. Las desigualdades en los niveles de actividad física son evidentes a nivel mundial. En Colombia, uno de los países más desiguales de Latinoamérica, la información es limitada; por tal razón, es imperativo conocer las disparidades en actividad física en el país para orientar el diseño de programas y políticas públicas encaminadas a promoverla.Objetivos. Estimar las prevalencias del cumplimiento de recomendaciones sobre actividad física y sus factores asociados, identificar desigualdades por sexo y condición socioeconómica en el cumplimiento de estas recomendaciones en el año 2010 y evaluar la tendencia de las prevalencias de actividad física en un período de cinco años.Materiales y métodos. Se hizo un análisis secundario de la Encuesta Nacional de la Situación Nutricional, 2005-2010. La muestra total incluyó 27.243 adultos. Los niveles de actividad física se midieron con el cuestionario internacional de actividad física. La condición socioeconómica se midió por el nivel del Sisbén.Resultados. La prevalencia del cumplimiento de las recomendaciones de actividad física en todos los dominios fue menor entre las mujeres. Los adultos de menor nivel socioeconómico tuvieron la menor prevalencia en “tiempo libre” y la mayor en “uso de la bicicleta como medio de transporte”. Los factores asociados con el cumplimiento de las recomendaciones difirieron según el sexo y el dominio de actividad física. Las variables individuales y del hogar explicaron 13,6 % de las desigualdades por sexo y 23,2 % de las desigualdades por nivel socioeconómico. En un período de cinco años la prevalencia de “actividad física en el tiempo libre” disminuyó y aumentó en “caminar como medio de transporte”.Conclusiones. Son preocupantes las bajas prevalencias de cumplimiento de las recomendaciones sobre actividad física en el tiempo libre en las mujeres y las personas de menor nivel socioeconómico. En futuras intervenciones para incrementar los niveles de actividad física deberán considerarse las desigualdades por sexo y condición socioeconómica, así como sus factores asociados

Benchmarking seeding strategies for spreading processes in social networks: an interplay between infuencers, topologies and sizes

The explosion of network science has permitted an understanding of how the structure of social networks affects the dynamics of social contagion. In community-based interventions with spill-over effects, identifying influential spreaders may be harnessed to increase the spreading efficiency of social contagion, in terms of time needed to spread all the largest connected component of the network. Several strategies have been proved to be efficient using only data and simulation-based models in specific network topologies without a consensus of an overall result. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to benchmark the spreading efficiency of seeding strategies related to network structural properties and sizes. We simulate spreading processes on empirical and simulated social networks within a wide range of densities, clustering coefficients, and sizes. We also propose three new decentralized seeding strategies that are structurally different from well-known strategies: community hubs, ambassadors, and random hubs. We observe that the efficiency ranking of strategies varies with the network structure. In general, for sparse networks with community structure, decentralized influencers are suitable for increasing the spreading efficiency. By contrast, when the networks are denser, centralized influencers outperform. These results provide a framework for selecting efficient strategies according to different contexts in which social networks emerge

The nutrition transition in Colombia over a decade: A novel household classification system of anthropometric measures

Q2Q2Background: Overweight and underweight increase the risk of metabolic impairments and chronic disease. Interventions at the household level require the diagnosis of nutritional status among family members. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and patterns of various anthropometric typologies over a decade in Colombia using a novel approach that considers all children in the household as well as the mother. This approach also allows identifying a dual burden of malnutrition within a household, where one child may be overweight and another one undernourished. Methods: This study used data from the Demographic and Health Survey and the Colombian National Nutrition Survey [2000 n = 2,876, 2005 n = 8,598, and 2010 n = 11,349]. Four mutually exclusive household (HH) anthropometric typologies - normal, undernourished, overweight/obese, and dual burden - were created. Anthropometric information of height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) and body-mass-index-forage Z-scores (BMIz) in children under the age of 5 y, and on body mass index (BMI) in mothers, 18–49 y was used. Results: Prevalence of overweight/obese HHs increased between 2000 (38.2%) and 2010 (43.1%) (p < 0.05), while undernourished and dual burden HHs significantly decreased between 2005 (13.7% and 10.6%, respectively) and 2010 (3.5% and 5.1%, respectively) (p < 0.05). A greater increase of overweight/obesity was observed for the lowest quintile of wealth index (WI), with an increase of almost 10% between 2000 and 2010, compared to 2% and 4% for the fourth and highest WI, respectively. Although in 2010 there is still a higher prevalence of overweight/obesity HHs in urban areas (43.7%), the prevalence of overweight/obesity HHs in rural areas increased sharply between 2000 (34.3%) and 2010 (41.6%) (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The observed prevalence of dual burden households was not different from the expected prevalence. Results from this study indicate that although overweight/obesity continues to be more prevalent among highincome Colombian households, it is growing at a faster pace among the most economically disadvantaged.Revista Internacional - Indexad

Do income inequality and women empowerment predict obesity in Latin American cities?

Obesity is a major public health issue, interrelated to urbanization, social, and gender inequalities. A comprehensive understanding on this intersection in Latin America is yet to be accomplished. Our aim is to analyze the association between city-level income inequality, women empowerment indicators and obesity by gender in Latin America; and how these associations vary by individual- or subcity-socioeconomic conditions (SEC). Using census and health surveys information compiled by the SALURBAL (Urban Health in Latin America) project, we will analyze data of 187 cities from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru (2002-2016). Obesity will be used as the outcome while the income-based Gini and a women´s labor force participation (WLFP) score -as proxy of women empowerment- will be considered as exposure variables. We will estimate gender-stratified three-level logistic mixed-models. We expect that individuals living in cities with greater income inequality will have higher probability of obesity, and this association will be stronger among individuals from lower subcity- and individual-SEC. Individuals living in cities with greater WLFP will have lower probability of obesity, and this association will be stronger among individuals from higher subcity and individual-SEC. All the associations are expected to be stronger among women than men.Fil: Tumas, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad; ArgentinaFil: Anza Ramírez, Cecilia. Cronicas Centre Of Excellence In Chronic Diseases; PerúFil: Carvalho, Mariana. Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto; BrasilFil: Mazariegos, Mónica. Instituto de Nutrición de Centro América y Panamá; GuatemalaFil: Moore, Kari. Drexel University; Estados UnidosFil: Ortigoza, Ana. Drexel University; Estados UnidosFil: Perez Ferrer, Carolina. Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública; MéxicoFil: Rodríguez López, Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad; ArgentinaFil: Sarmiento, Olga L.. Universidad de Los Andes.; ChileFil: Benach, Joan. Universitat Pompeu Fabra; EspañaFil: Lazo, Mariana. Drexel University; Estados Unidos29th International Population Conference (IPC2021)HyderabadIndiaIndian Association for the Study of Populatio

Confirmatory Factor Analysis Comparing Incentivized Experiments With Self‑Report Methods to Elicit Adolescent Smoking and Vaping Social Norms

Many adolescent smoking prevention programmes target social norms, typically evaluated with self-report, susceptible to social desirability bias. An alternative approach with little application in public health are experimental norms elicitation methods. Using the Mechanisms of Networks and Norms Influence on Smoking in Schools (MECHANISMS) study baseline data, from 12–13 year old school pupils (n = 1656) in Northern Ireland and Bogotá (Colombia), we compare two methods of measuring injunctive and descriptive smoking and vaping norms: (1) incentivized experiments, using monetary payments to elicit norms; (2) self-report scales. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) examined whether the methods measured the same construct. Paths from exposures (country, sex, personality) to social norms, and associations of norms with (self-reported and objectively measured) smoking behavior/intentions were inspected in another structural model. Second-order CFA showed that latent variables representing experimental and survey norms measurements were measuring the same underlying construct of anti-smoking/vaping norms (Comparative Fit Index = 0.958, Tucker Lewis Index = 0.951, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.030, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual = 0.034). Adding covariates into a structural model showed significant paths from country to norms (second-order anti-smoking/vaping norms latent variable: standardized factor loading [β] = 0.30, standard error [SE] = 0.09, p \u3c 0.001), and associations of norms with self-reported anti-smoking behavior (β = 0.40, SE = 0.04, p \u3c 0.001), self-reported anti-smoking intentions (β = 0.42, SE = 0.06, p \u3c 0.001), and objectively measured smoking behavior (β = − 0.20, SE = 0.06, p = 0.001). This paper offers evidence for the construct validity of behavioral economic methods of eliciting adolescent smoking and vaping norms. These methods seem to index the same underlying phenomena as commonly-used self-report scales