‘Alcohol,less is better’ project: outcomes of an Italian community‐based prevention programme on reducing per‐capita alcohol consumption

Aims To evaluate differences in the individual alcohol consumption after a community‐based prevention programme. Design settings and participants ‘Alcohol, less is better’ is a controlled intervention trial. The intervention adopted a community approach, based on the active involvement of community leaders and institutional or volunteer organizations. Between 1999 and 2006, 2.5 years of activities aiming at informing and sensitizing the community on the harmful effects of alcohol on social life and health were carried out in 10 selected small Italian communities, involving a total of 123 235 individuals. Eight communities were chosen as control group. Measurements Changes in self‐reported individual alcohol consumption before and after the intervention were assessed on a random sample of intervention (n = 3382) and control (n = 2644) populations, using telephone and mailed surveys. Linear and log‐linear models for repeated measures were used to evaluate differences between intervention and control samples. Findings Overall, a significant reduction (P < 0.001) of individual self‐reported alcohol consumption was observed in the intervention sample (?1.1 drinks/week) relative to control sample (+0.3 drinks/week). The reduction was significantly greater in males than in females (P for heterogeneity = 0.016). In the young (15–24‐year‐olds) intervention and control samples showed opposite trends (?0.4 drinks/week and +1.7 drinks/week, respectively). Conclusions A coordinated community‐based intervention can reduce alcohol consumption in the general population.     

A systematic review of system dynamics and agent‐based obesity models: Evaluating obesity as part of the global syndemic

The problem of obesity has recently been reframed as part of the global syndemic—the co‐occurring, interacting pandemics of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change that are driven by common underlying societal drivers. System science modeling approaches may help clarify how these shared drivers operate and the best ways to address them. The objective of this paper was to determine to what extent existing agent‐based and system dynamics computational models of obesity provide insights into the shared drivers of the global syndemic. Peer‐reviewed studies published until July 2018 were identified from Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. Thirty‐eight studies representing 30 computational models were included. They show a growing use of system dynamics and agent‐based modeling in the past decade. They most often examined mechanisms and interventions in the areas of social network‐based influences on obesity, physiology and disease state mechanics, and the role of food and physical activity environments. Usefulness for identifying common drivers of the global syndemic was mixed; most models represented Western settings and focused on obesity determinants close to the person (eg, social circles, school settings, and neighborhood environments), with a relative paucity in models at mesolevel and macrolevel and in developing country contexts.