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Postprandial glucose responses to standardised meals consumed after moderate- and high-intensity exercise bouts across standard school days in healthy adolescentsExercise-induced moderation of postprandial glycaemia in adolescents is unclear and has not been examined under free-living conditions. We assessed the effect of moderate-intensity exercise (MIE) and high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) bouts on subsequent postprandial glycaemic responses across three standard school days. Fourteen healthy adolescents (13 ± 1 years) completed three conditions in the following order across consecutive days: MIE, 30-min continuous brisk walking; CON, no-exercise control; HIIE, 30- min of 10 × 30-s sprints interspersed with 2.5-min brisk walking bouts. Participants consumed three standardised meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) at standardised times. Interstitial glucose, energy intake, sedentary time and physical activity were assessed under free-living conditions. Linear mixed models compared glucose outcomes between conditions, and Cohen’s d effect sizes were calculated. Although non-significant, the reduction in postbreakfast glucose iAUC was moderate for MIE (-0.24 mmol·L -1 ; P = 0.59; d = 0.77) and large for HIIE (-0.26 mmol·L -1 ; P = 0.44; d = 0.86) compared with CON. Non-significant, moderate (0.37 mmol·L -1 ; P = 0.22; d = 0.70) and large (0.42 mmol·L -1 ; P = 0.20; d = 0.81) increases in postlunch glucose iAUC were observed for MIE and HIIE compared with CON. Nevertheless, the 24-h mean glucose was stable at ~5.4 mmol·L -1 across conditions. The glycaemic variability indices calculated over 24-h after the onset of exercise for each condition including standard deviation (P = 0.59) and mean amplitude of glycaemic excursion (P = 0.82) were not different between conditions. Thirty-minute bouts of MIE and HIIE did not change postprandial glycaemia or 24-h glycaemic variability significantly in the small sample of healthy adolescents. However, the moderate and large effect sizes suggest both MIE and HIIE reduced breakfast glucose iAUC compared with CON, yet led to increases in post-lunch iAUC in the two exercise conditions. The mismatch between the probability values and effect sizes was a consequence of our COVID-reduced sample. The ramifications of these exercise effects are unclear and need to be confirmed in a larger sample of adolescents.
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‘They need to see the people they are affecting by their decision-making’: developing participatory advocacy with young people on sexual violence in Albania, Moldova and Serbia : monitoring and evaluation reportIn 2019, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) celebrated its 30th anniversary. The UNCRC grants children the right to participation, to have a say on matters affecting them, and to be heard. On 18 November 2019 – the European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse – the Council of Europe prioritised ‘children’s participation’, emphasising the importance of ‘empowering children to stop sexual violence’. Children and young people’s participation are high on the international policy agenda. The reality frequently lags behind such political aspirations. In practice, the right to participation is not extended to all children and young people equally. The significant practical and ethical challenges associated with engaging vulnerable groups in participatory initiatives mean that children and young people affected by sexual violence are often sidelined from such opportunities. As a result, the highly relevant perspectives of ‘experts by experience’ tend to be marginalised from processes of knowledge-creation and decision-making. However, their perspectives are key to developing targeted responses that reflect the needs and priorities of those affected by the issue. As professionals and organisations, we need to expand our skill set and knowledge about how to safely involve children and young people with lived experience in participatory work. This requires resources as well as professional capacity and confidence building.
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Learning from the experts: young people’s views on their mental health and emotional wellbeing needs following sexual abuse in adolescence: briefing paper, March 2021There is a recognised gap in knowledge and understanding about how the mental health and emotional wellbeing of young people are affected by experiences of sexual abuse during adolescence. By sexual abuse we mean contact- and noncontact activities, online-facilitated abuse, abuse inside and outside the family, and abuse by adults and other young people. The unique nature of adolescence means that young people experiencing sexual abuse in this phase of life may have different needs to younger children or adults. We need to know better – from them – about what these are and find ways of helping that are sensitive to the impacts of sexual abuse in this life stage and the demands of their everyday lives. This briefing shares some of the key messages that young people who took part in our participatory research told us about their mental health and emotional wellbeing needs following sexual abuse in adolescence.
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Exploring the role and lived experiences of people with disabilities working in the agricultural sector in northern NigeriaBackground: It is estimated that over 75.0% of households in sub-Saharan Africa are involved in agriculture, and the majority of the poor in rural areas rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. One billion people living with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries are argued to make up the poorest of the poor, yet to our knowledge, no literature has captured the livelihood of people living with disabilities in the context of farming in Nigeria, specifically northern Nigeria where most of the households are involved in agriculture and related activities. Objectives: This article reports on findings from a study that sought to understand disability in the context of northern Nigerian farming, with a particular focus on the role and lived experiences of people living with disabilities working in the agricultural sector. Method: A survey questionnaire was developed and captured the experiences of 1067 people living with disabilities working in the agricultural sector across five states (Adamawa, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna and Yobe) in northern Nigeria. Results: Findings indicate that people with disabilities are actively participating in agricultural activities for several reasons, which specifically included ‘forced to and for survival’. When participants reported needing care, this was predominantly provided by family members. Findings also showed that participants with disabilities experienced several economic and sociocultural challenges because of their impairments. Conclusion: This study adds to the very limited literature on farmers living with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa and so highlights the need for more research to be conducted with farmers living with disabilities in Nigeria, particularly female farmers living with disabilities. These will provide more evidence pertaining to the experiences of farmers living with disabilities in order to provide effective disability- and gender-inclusive agricultural and entrepreneurship programmes in Nigeria. Contribution: The results of this research reveal important insights relating to the experiences of farmers living with disabilities in northern Nigeria, which can contribute to informing future developmental projects to achieve effective inclusion and actively benefit people living with disabilities.
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‘They believe this’ : taking pupils’ religious backgrounds into account in relationship and sex educationThis research explored young people’s experiences of, and views on, the place of religion in Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). We surveyed 157 15-19-year-olds from 29 different secondary schools, including those with and with no religious faith, and spoke to 16 Christians and Muslims aged 18-21 in four online focus groups.
