Promotion of Healthy Eating Habits and Physical Activity Among Children and Their Families.

Overview

Eating habits and physical activity are key determinants of individual health. The family plays a relevant role in educating children about healthy lifestyles. In the Moroccan community, women are the reference for aspects related to family care. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the ALIAFF program on awareness and promotion of healthy eating and the practice of regular physical activity in families with a situation of social vulnerability linked to the socio-educational intervention services of the Osona County Council (CCO). Children aged 9-12 years, along with their reference adult linked to the CCO's Socio-educational Intervention Services (SIS) with low adherence to the Mediterranean diet and/or low physical activity levels, with an interest to participate in the program who are able to independently reach the municipal centre. The study involves participating in an initial meeting to co-create and culturally adapt the program. Following this, selected participants will complete the initial data collection with the help of a mediator of Moroccan origin. The intervention group will participate in five nutrition and physical activity sessions of 1.5 hours. After the intervention, both the control and the intervention group will participate in the final evaluation, which will also be repeated after two months to assess the longer-term impact. Upon completion of the evaluation, the control group will also receive the intervention as compensation for their participation.

The intervention will start with the dissemination and recruitment phase. During this phase, the research team will provide detailed information about the project to the staff of Osona County Council (CCO) and Socio-educational Intervention Services (SIS). These staff members will then assist in identifying and inviting eligible children and one adult of their family (primarily mothers) who comply with the study's eligibility criteria. The municipal team will organize a meeting at SIS headquarters with the selected participants to facilitate extended information about the research and outline what their participation will entail. Families who agree to participate will be asked to sign the informed consent. This meeting will also serve as a collaborative space where families from both the control and the intervention groups can discuss the suitability of the proposed activities, session content, timetables, and interest dynamics of the families in order to co-create and culturally adapt the program. After that, the initial assessment will be conducted by the research team with the help of a mediator from the Moroccan community and the municipal social team through the initial data collection questionnaire (QRD). The intervention consisted of 5 dynamic face-to-face sessions of 1.5 hours will be implemented first with the intervention group. The sessions will be conducted by the researcher with the support of the social teams and a mediator of Morrocan origin in the SIS spaces of the municipality. The support material of every session will be provided to the participants and at the end of each session, small tasks will be assigned to encourage the transfer of the topics discussed during the sessions into the families' daily routines. The control group will receive the same intervention after the final evaluation as compensation for their participation in the program. At the end of the educational sessions, the final evaluation will be carried out for both groups through the final QRD. The same evaluation procedure will be repeated after two months to assess the program's impact and sustainability over time.