PD945
BARRIERS TO HEALTHY EATING AMONG SOCIALLY VULNERABLE ADOLESCENTS: A CROSS-COUNTRY COMPARISON BETWEEN A COMMUNITY CENTRE AND A RESIDENTIAL CHILD-CARE INSTITUTION
E. Andrejenko1,*, I. Elksne1, B. Teixeira2, L. Jakubane1, D. Nesterovica1, C. Carvalho2, S. Fraga2, M. Amorim2, C. Lopes2,3, V. Una1
1Rīga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia, 2Institute of Public Health of the University Porto, EPIUnit ITR, 3Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Rationale: Socioeconomic vulnerability shapes adolescent dietary behaviors, yet little is known about whether similar barriers emerge across different care settings. This study, conducted within the framework of the CONNECTION project, aimed to identify barriers to the adoption of healthy eating among adolescents attending community centres in Latvia and those living in residential child-care institutions (RCCI) in Portugal.
Methods: Participatory Action Research (PAR) with photovoice was conducted in Latvia (LV; n=11, aged 12–16, community centre, 7 sessions) and Portugal (PT; n=6, aged 14–17, residential child-care institution, 6 sessions). Adolescents captured photographs of their food environments and discussed them using the SHOWeD framework. Data was analyzed using a codebook thematic analysis approach in NVivo 12, mapped onto the Social Ecological Model (SEM: Individual, Interpersonal, Environmental/Structural levels).
Results: Common barriers included limited nutrition knowledge, peer influence, and financial constraints across SEM levels. Context-specific barriers stood in sharp contrast: in community centres, adolescents highlighted environmental and structural barriers (e.g., fast-food access, marketing, pricing, poverty), whereas in RCCI, barriers were mainly institutional and interpersonal, such as low meal acceptability, limited autonomy, and reliance on food bank donations high in sugar and fat.
Conclusion: Structural barriers were evident in both contexts but differed in nature: in community centres, they were predominantly related to the community environment, whereas in RCCI, they were embedded within institutional structures. These findings underscore the need for multi-level, context-adapted interventions to reduce dietary inequities among vulnerable adolescents (Funding: ERA4Health Programme Grant Agreement No. 101095426).
Disclosure of Interest: None declared
