BACKGROUND AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES: Sri Lankan households struggled to find money to buy food in the economic crisis and child under-nutrition emerged as a challenge. Engaging youth in tobacco control remains a challenge and we tried to find a combined solution.
INTERVENTION OR RESPONSE: The intervention aimed to mobilise youth to initiate collective community actions to improve nutrition in their communities. Two teams were recruited from each district of Sri Lanka, including 100 youths as 50 teams. They were empowered via three workshops and continuous inputs via virtual platforms to identify determinants of nutrition and address them through community empowerment processes. The process evaluation was conducted following nine months of community interventions. A mixed-method approach was used to collect data related to the process teams follow, reach, content, actions and perceived outcomes of the community processes. Data collection methods included interviews with youth teams and community participants, analysis of determinant assessment charts and field activity logs, and discussions conducted during field visits with individuals, families and community groups. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative data, and qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis.
RESULTS AND IMPACT: At the time of the evaluation, 36 community processes sustained reaching approximately 55.000 people via 171 community settings. Tobacco use was identified by the communities as a key determinant of nutrition in 32 out of 36 processes. Youth led discussions empowered communities to take collective actions, such as monitoring household expenses related to tobacco and redirecting toward purchasing nutritious food. Some children’s and youth clubs engaged in educating their peers, monitoring tobacco advertisement and promotion via media, and advocating media channels against those violations. All community groups reported reduced tobacco use and reallocation of expenses for nutrition.
CONCLUSIONS: Youth led community empowerment initiatives can be effectively used for tobacco control by targeting it as a determinant of child nutrition.