PhD Studentship: Closing the Gap Between What We Know and What We Do When Intervening on Inactivity and Poor Nutrition Among Adolescents Living in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

Over 80% of adolescents worldwide are physically inactive, and adolescent diet quality is often insufficient for optimum health and well-being. Given the rapid technological and environmental changes in sub-Saharan countries, lifestyle-based non-communicable diseases such as obesity are increasing at an alarming pace.

At present there is a paucity of knowledge on how to implement contextually relevant intervention strategies for promoting physical activity and healthy nutrition in adolescents living in SSA. Interventions to increase physical activity and improve nutrition among adolescents are often complex, and implementation strategies, such as approaches to facilitate, strengthen, and sustain the delivery of evidence-based practices and services are often overlooked in the development of interventions. Given the unique and often challenging contexts for physical activity and nutrition in low-income countries in SSA, understanding the key influences on the implementation of interventions is essential for the development and implementation of effective interventions.

This PhD project will be supported by an existing EU Horizon funded collaboration and study sites in Ghana and Kenya. The post graduate researcher will have the opportunity to capitalise on the infrastructure, contacts and collaborators from the EU Horizon funded project, and will be supported to lead a series of studies aiming to better understand what implementation strategies work to improve physical activity and nutrition of adolescents and importantly for whom and in what context, with a particular focus on understanding differences by socio-economic status, gender, and setting (i.e. Ghana and Kenya). Studies could include a realist synthesis, co-production of implementation strategies, and testing the implementation of these strategies on implementation outcomes.

You will complete your research at Loughborough University, which is ranked number one in the world for sport-related subjects (QS World University Rankings). You will be part of a team alongside expert supervisors: Dr Natalie Pearson, Dr Hibbah Osei-Kwasi, Prof. Paula Griffiths, and Prof. Lauren Sherar, who are leading this exciting global health project in the School of Sport, Exercise & Health Sciences.

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