Objective To explore the acceptability and feasibility of choice architecture strategies for dietary change in UK secondary school canteens from the perspectives of pupils, school staff and catering providers through qualitative focus groups and interviews. Results Three focus groups with adolescents (n = 15; mean age 13.7 years; standard deviation 1.9) and eight interviews with school staff and caterers recruited from one school and catering provider in Coventry UK were undertaken. The most acceptable choice architecture strategies for intervening to drive healthy dietary choices are those that make use of proximity and positioning, on the basis that convenience was one of the main drivers for food/drink selections. Acknowledging adolescents’ desire for autonomy and for food to be familiar and predictable was considered important in enhancing acceptability. Challenges to the feasibility of nudge strategies included concerns about behavioural issues, increased food waste, and a decline in uptake of canteen purchases. The design of food choice architecture interventions for secondary school settings should consider the specific characteristics of this age group and setting to ensure successful implementation.

The time-use diary is a complex and burdensome data collection instrument. This can negatively affect data quality, leading to less detailed and/or inaccurate activity reporting as the surveyed time period unfolds. However, it can also be argued that data quality may actually improve over time as respondents become more familiar with the diary instrument format and more interested in the diary task. These competing hypotheses have only been partially tested on data from paper and telephone-administered diaries, which are traditionally used for large-scale data collection. Less is known about self-administered modes that make use of new technologies, despite their increasing popularity among researchers. This research note rectifies this omission by comparing diary quality in self-administered web and app diaries, drawing on data from the Millennium Cohort Study. We construct a person-level data quality typology, using information on missing data, episode changes, and reporting of key daily activity domains. Results show significant mode differences on person-level data quality, after controlling for characteristics known to influence diary mode selection and data quality. App diarists were more likely to return two diaries of inconsistent quality. Both respondent fatigue and improvement of completion over time appear more common among app diarists.

Objective To explore the acceptability and feasibility of choice architecture strategies for dietary change in UK secondary school canteens from the perspectives of pupils, school staff and catering providers through qualitative focus groups and interviews. Results Three focus groups with adolescents (n = 15) and eight interviews with school staff and caterers recruited from one school and catering provider in Coventry UK were undertaken. Convenience, presentation and value for money were the main drivers for food and drink purchases in this school setting; while the most acceptable choice architecture strategies for intervening to drive healthy dietary choices are those that make use of proximity and positioning. Challenges to the feasibility of nudge strategies included concerns about behavioural issues, increased food waste, and a decline in uptake of canteen purchases. Acknowledging adolescents’ desire for autonomy and for food to be familiar and predictable was considered important. The design of food choice architecture interventions for secondary school settings should consider the specific characteristics of this age group and setting to ensure successful implementation.

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Background Adolescent physical activity is influenced by biological, psychological, sociocultural, and environmental factors; however, no review has yet explored the effect of family structure (usually defined based on the relationships between people living in a household) on adolescent physical activity levels. Methods Databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Sociological Abstracts were searched for peer-reviewed studies with a quantitative component published since 2010, with no restrictions on language, country, and year of data collection. Study screening, data extraction, and quality assessment occurred in duplicate. SWiM guidelines guided the narrative synthesis. PROSPERO protocol CRD42020221090. Results Thirty studies met inclusion criteria: 17 looked at global physical activity, 13 at leisure physical activity, and sport participation. All studies used cross-sectional designs and 27 assessed outcomes through a survey. Sixteen (10 of good quality) reported a significant association between family structure and adolescent physical activity. Of these, three did not specify the direction of this association while nine found adolescents in ″traditional″ (two-parent) families were more physically active compared with other family structures. This association was stronger in studies of leisure-time physical activity. Two studies reported that adolescents with single mothers achieve more physical activity than adolescents living with neither parent. Two studies, focused on school physical exercise classes and active transport, found adolescents in single-parent households engaged in more physical activity than those living with two parents. Conclusion High-quality accelerometery, time diary, and longitudinal studies are needed to investigate the effect of family structure on adolescent physical activity and health sequelae. An improved understanding of social determinants of adolescent physical activity could inform health promotion strategies.