Domains of Capacity Building in Whole-Systems Approaches to Prevent Obesity—A “Systematized” Review

Sisitha Jayasinghe (), Robert Soward, Lisa Dalton, Timothy P. Holloway, Sandra Murray, Kira A. E. Patterson, Kiran D. K. Ahuja, Roger Hughes, Nuala M. Byrne and Andrew P. Hills
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Sisitha Jayasinghe: College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, Australia
Robert Soward: College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, Australia
Lisa Dalton: College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, Australia
Timothy P. Holloway: College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, Australia
Sandra Murray: College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, Australia
Kira A. E. Patterson: College of Arts, Law and Education, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, Australia
Kiran D. K. Ahuja: College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, Australia
Roger Hughes: School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia
Nuala M. Byrne: College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, Australia
Andrew P. Hills: College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, Australia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 17, 1-17

Abstract: Despite increased awareness of its risks, for the most part, contemporary efforts for obesity prevention have been patchy at best. As such, the burgeoning interest in whole-systems approaches (WSAs) that acknowledge the complex, dynamic nature of overweight and obesity and operate across multiple levels of society is particularly timely. Many components of “community capacity building” (CB), an essential but often neglected aspect of obesity prevention, overlap with “best practice principles” in effective/optimal community-based obesity-prevention initiatives. Rhetoric urging WSAs and community CB in public health abounds although operative and efficacious contemporary examples of these approaches to reducing obesity levels are scarce. The aim of this investigation was to undertake a systematized review of the level of capacity building incorporated in published literature on WSAs targeting obesity to better understand how domains of CB have been incorporated. A PubMed search and a recently published systematic review were utilized to identify WSAs to obesity prevention between 1995–2020. A team-based approach to qualitative thematic data analysis was used to systematically assess and describe each intervention regarding explicit capacity-building practice. Despite not being specifically designed for building capacity, a significant proportion of the WSAs studied in the current report had implemented several CB domains.

Keywords: whole-systems approach; prevention; capacity building; overweight and obesity; community intervention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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