Adolescent health and well‐being in sub‐Saharan Africa: Strengthening knowledge base and research capacity through a collaborative multi‐country school‐based study

Abstract

In Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA), adolescents make up around one‐quarter of the population who are growing up in a rapidly urbanizing environment, with its associated risks and benefits, including impacts on health, psychosocial development, nutrition, and education. However, research on adolescents' health and well‐being in SSA is limited. The ARISE (African Research, Implementation Science and Education) Network's Adolescent Health and Nutrition Study is an exploratory, school‐based study of 4988 urban adolescents from five countries: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, South Africa, Sudan, and Tanzania. A multistage random sampling strategy was used to select the schools and adolescents. Adolescent boys and girls aged 10–15 years were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire by trained enumerators. The questionnaire covered multiple domains including demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, water, sanitation and hygiene practices, antimicrobial resistance, physical activity, dietary behaviours, socioemotional development, educational outcomes, media use, mental health, and menstrual hygiene (only for girls). Additionally, a desk review of health and school meal policies and programs and a qualitative investigation into health and food environments in schools were conducted with students, administrators, and food vendors. In this paper, we describe the study design and questionnaire, present profiles of young adolescents who participated in the study, and share field experiences and lessons learned for future studies. We expect that this study along with other ARISE Network projects will be a first step toward understanding young people's health risks and disease burdens, identifying opportunities for interventions and improving policies, as well as developing potential research capacities on adolescent health and well‐being in the SSA region.

Investigating the socio-ecological model factors influencing physical activity and health promotion among early adolescents in the southern parts of Ethiopia

“…According to this study, the school community is composed of individuals who work together to provide a safe atmosphere for teaching physical education that motivates students to be active in school settings (11). However, in Ethiopia, issues related to the school community are crucial in limiting physical activity engagement in schools (14,43). Key factors influencing physical activity include the availability of physical education teachers, the assistance of school administrators, the support of school board members, and the accessibility of places for physical activity (44).…”

Enhancing adolescent and youth health through nutrition fluency in Sub-Saharan Africa: ARISE-NUTRINT initiative

“…to find solutions for these public health challenges, partners from SSa, europe, and North america have established the multiactor, multidisciplinary, and population-representative arISe-NUtrINt (the africa research, Implementation Science, and educationreducing NUtrition-related noncommunicable diseases in adolescence and youth: INterventions and policies to boost nutrition fluency and diet quality in africa) initiative, which is funded by the european commission Horizon 2022 and builds on previous successful collaborations of partners. [8][9][10] the overall goal of arISe-NUtrINt is to generate high-quality and actionable evidence on Adolescents and youth, who are particularly susceptible to undernutrition and dietrelated obesity compared to other age groups, face increased risks for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), a major public health challenge that accounts for 70% of global deaths annually the (cost-) effectiveness, impact, and implementation aspects of communitybased interventions and policies that promote healthy diets among adolescents in seven SSa countries: ethiopia, tanzania, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and South africa (Figure 1).…”

Exploring Barriers to Accessing Adolescents Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in South Ethiopia Regional State: A Phenomenological Study Using Levesque’s Framework

“…1 In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), adolescents make up about 25% of the population. 2 In Ethiopia, adolescents make up 21.6% of the total population. 3 Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) related problems remain a major health concern for adolescents aged 10–19 years.…”