Mentoring health researchers globally: Diverse experiences, programmes, challenges and responses.

Mentoring experiences and programmes are becoming increasingly recognised as important by those engaged in capacity strengthening in global health research. Using a primarily qualitative study design, we studied three experiences of mentorship and eight mentorship programmes for early career global health researchers based in high-income and low- and middle-income countries. For the latter, we drew upon programme materials, existing unpublished data and more formal mixed-method evaluations, supplemented by individual email questionnaire responses. Research team members wrote stories, and the team assembled and analysed them for key themes. Across the diverse experiences and programmes, key emergent themes included: great mentors inspire others in an inter-generational cascade, mentorship is transformative in personal and professional development and involves reciprocity, and finding the right balance in mentoring relationships and programmes includes responding creatively to failure. Among the challenges encountered were: struggling for more level playing fields for new health researchers globally, changing mindsets in institutions that do not have a culture of mentorship and building collaboration not competition. Mentoring networks spanning institutions and countries using multiple virtual and face-to-face methods are a potential avenue for fostering organisational cultures supporting quality mentorship in global health research

Tobacco point-of-sale advertising in Guatemala City, Guatemala and Buenos Aires, Argentina

Convenience stores (120 per city) were chosen from randomly selected blocks in low, middle and high socioeconomic neighbourhoods to assess point of sale tobacco advertising. Compared to Guatemala, ‘No sales to minors’ signs were more prevalent in Argentina. Tobacco advertising is highly prevalent in both Guatemala City, and Buenos Aires. In Guatemala, 60% of stores had cigarette ads and high and middle socioeconomic status neighbourhood stores had more indoor cigarette ads. In Argentina, 80% of stores had cigarette ads and few differences were observed by neighbourhood socioeconomic status. An advertising ban should include point of sale advertising

Gender representation in food and beverage print advertisements found in corner stores around schools in Peru and Guatemala

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess gender representation in food and beverage print advertisements. Results: The study follows a quantitative descriptive approach. Using a content analysis technique, we assessed the gender representation in 200 food and beverage print advertisements found in corner stores located in four areas around schools in Lima, Peru, and Guatemala City, Guatemala (100 advertisements per country). A total of 36% of the print advertisements exhibited a male main character for the case of Guatemala, while in Peru 14% of the print advertisements presented a male main character. Furthermore, in Guatemala, 22% of the main characters were male animated characters. Moreover, 27% of the print advertisements in Guatemala and 17%, in Peru were visually male-oriented. Overall, male characters appeared alongside sports references and in varied settings, whereas female characters were usually holding or consuming the product. In conclusion, although the majority of variables used to assess the representation of gender in food and beverage print advertisements were gender-neutral, those showing gender representation were mostly male-oriented. Despite its limited findings, the study provides evidence for the formulation of public policies and educational content aimed to protect children’s and adolescents’ health from the effects of food marketing

A qualitative study of children’s snack food packaging perceptions and preferences

Background: Food marketing is pervasive in high- and low/middle-income countries and is recognized as a significant risk factor for childhood obesity. Although food packaging is one of the most important marketing tools to persuade consumers at the point-of-sale, scant research has examined how it influences children’s perceptions. This study was conducted in Guatemala and aimed to understand which snack foods are the most frequently purchased by children and how aspects of food packaging influence their product perceptions. Methods: Six activity-based focus groups were conducted in two elementary public schools with thirty-seven children (Grades 1 through 6, age range 7–12 years old). During each focus group, children participated in three activities: 1) list their most frequently purchased food products; 2) select the picture of their favorite product, the packaging they liked best, and the product they thought was the healthiest from eight choices; and 3) draw the package of a new snack. Results: Children reported purchasing salty snacks most frequently. Most children chose their favorite product based on taste perceptions, which can be influenced by food packaging. Visual elements influenced children’s selection of favorite packaging (i.e., characters, colors) and healthiest product (i.e., images), and persuaded some children to incorrectly think certain foods contained healthy ingredients. When children generated their own drawings of a new product, the most frequently included packaging elements in the drawings were product name, price, product image and characters, suggesting those aspects of the food packaging were most significant to them. Conclusions: Policies regulating package content and design are required to discourage consumption of unhealthy snacks. This might be another public health strategy that can aid to halt the obesity epidemic

Food marketing targeted to kids : a collaborative and policy-oriented study in Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala and Peru

The food and beverage industry have established successful relationships with corner store proprietors to guarantee ultra-processed food (UPF) availability in urban and rural Guatemala. Considering that proprietors in Guatemala are unlikely to promote and support the availability and advertising of healthy foods, healthcare policymakers should take this into account when designing, planning and implementing UPF regulations. Due to the pandemic COVID-19 and its possible contribution to the unhealthy food environment, the study also proposes a methodology for monitoring and evaluating internet marketing of multinational fast-food chains. The technical report provides details of the project and its outputs