Using participatory techniques to identify barriers for physical activity in a deprived area in Flanders

Using participatory techniques to identify barriers for physical activity in a deprived area in Flanders.

Jessie Van Kerckhove, Maïté Verloigne, Leonor Guariguata and Stefanie Vandevijvere

Background:

Childhood obesity remains a treat to public health throughout the world, and is guided by a strong socioeconomic profile, with less opportunities for physical activity (PA) for the most vulnerable. Engaging both the target group and key stakeholders is essential in developing context-specific actions.

Purpose:

Using participatory techniques to identify barriers for PA from different points of view and proposing context-specific local government actions to increase opportunities for PA for children and adolescents living in a deprived area in Flanders.

Methods:

Group model building (GMB) was used to engage stakeholders (n = 13), whilst Photovoice was the preferred method to involve children and adolescents (n = 90). Additionally, parents and teachers (n = 10) engaged in interviews.

Results:

Whilst the stakeholders put a strong focus on how road safety and car use influences PA, children, adolescents and parents identified different barriers. The most pressing issues for them were the lack of equipment and facilities, and the unequal distribution of opportunities and investments throughout the municipality. Photovoice allowed children and adolescents to visualize their living environment and these issues they encounter, and the results from the interviews strengthened these findings, resulting in an understanding from the stakeholders. Context-specific actions targeting these barriers are currently in development.

Conclusions:

The combination of Photovoice, interviews and GMB allowed to identify barriers for PA from different points of view and create room for understanding. Promising structural actions are in the pipeline to increase opportunities for PA.

Practical implications:

This combination of participatory techniques demonstrates a promising approach to create an understanding of barriers from different points of view and can serve as an example for other local governments wishing to develop context-specific actions to increase opportunities for PA.

Funding:

HEALTH4EUKIDS is funded by the European Health and Digital Executive Office (Grant 101082462)