| University | Pompeu Fabra University |
|---|---|
| Center/department/research group | Research Group on Health Inequalities – Employment Conditions Network (GREDS-EMCONET) |
| Research Title | Shifting the obesity epidemic in Iberia-Latin American cities: applying interdisciplinary, intersectional and intersectoral approaches to understand and change key obesogenic causes. |
| Scientific Area | Social and health sciences |
| Related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) | Goal 2 “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”, Goal 3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” and Goal 5 “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. |
| Target(s) to which it contributes | Goal 2 “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” Target 2.2: By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons. Goal 3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” Target 3.4: By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being. Goal 5 “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” Target 5.C: Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels |
| Further information (website, if any) |
The overall objective of this project is to develop an analytical model to assess the determinants of social and gender inequalities (SGI) in overweight and obesity (O/O) in the Iberia-Latin American cities over a recent time period, and to inform urban policies by integrating interdisciplinary, intersectional and intersectoral approaches.
More than half of the worldwide population (55%) is overweight or obese (O/O), while the increasing trends are leading to shorten life expectancy. Innovative actions to tackle O/O are urgently needed: no country has so far succeeded in reducing its growth. Other two growing issues parallel this big concern: social inequalities and urbanisation. Approximately 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas and inequalities in health are considered as one of the great epidemics in the 21st century. Research has demonstrated that more unequal societies have more unequal health, and that O/O are less common in more equal societies. Moreover, O/O and social inequalities worsen with urbanization. However, it is still unclear what the main drivers of this intertwined SGI in O/O within urban contexts.
O/O are related to several axes of social inequality, such as socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, age, and place of residence. O/O are more frequent in more unequal societies and increase with urbanisation. The highly urbanised Iberia-Latin American region has strong historical, political, economic and cultural bonds. However, this region has also considerable heterogeneity in the degree of SGI, urbanisation, and in the prevalence of O/O. Thus, this transnational scenario holds great potential for the analysis of the urban SGI in O/O.
To develop this project, a mixed methods study design will be applied, with a cross-sectional multi-city study followed by a public policy analysis. Additionally, recommendations for polices and interventions to address SGI in O/O will be developed. A gender perspective will be adopted throughout all the action. The novel integration of these approaches will contribute to tackling urban SGI in O/O by providing a more comprehensive understanding of its drivers and by finding new avenues for improving equity-based urban policies. The project will also provide insights to reshape O/O as a systemic problem worldwide. The project is supported by an individual fellowship (European fellowship) of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and include institutions such as Pompeu Fabra University, Food Justice (non-governmental organization) and National University of Córdoba (Argentina). This EU-funded project will have a key impact on relevant target audiences (researchers, practitioners, policy makers) as well as on the wider community.
In order to broaden the impact, key messages on the project (2021-2023) will be communicated to different target audiences, using different strategies. The scientific knowledge generated by the research will be disseminated throughout the publication of papers and presentations in conferences. Different means of exploitation of results will also be considered, such as the implementation of a Workshop and the production of a Policy Brief. In addition, different channels and strategies of communication will be used for different audiences, including the publication of articles in newspapers, radio and TV talks, multimedia releases, podcasts, blogs, and E-newsletters on social media. Moreover, to explain the benefits of this research and engage in a two-way exchange to the general public, several outreach activities at the societal level will be developed (such as the ‘European Researchers’ Night’ and the organization of a movie debate, among others).
Educational Common Spaces. Passing through enclosures and reversing inequalities... 