Promoting Adolescent and Youth Health Through Physical Activity Initiatives and Interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa: The ARISE-NUTRINT and DASH Initiatives
Regular physical activity (PA) is essential for maintaining health and wellbeing across all life stages, particularly in children and adolescents. Despite its benefits, most adolescents fail to meet the World Health Organization's PA recommendations, with global trends indicating alarmingly low participation rates, particularly among girls. This issue is pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where physical inactivity is a significant public health concern, contributing to rising obesity rates. Environmental, socio-economic, and cultural barriers further exacerbate low PA engagement, including extreme weather conditions, lack of recreational infrastructure, gender norms, and economic constraints. Addressing these challenges requires targeted interventions, including education, improved infrastructure, and policy implementation. Innovative programs such as ARISE-NUTRINT and DASH aim to enhance adolescent health in SSA through nutrition and PA-focused strategies. This commentary paper explores existing barriers to PA, evaluates promising on-going efforts and interventions, and highlights opportunities for promoting PA in SSA through community engagement, digital platforms, and cross-sector collaboration. Implementing sustainable and culturally tailored strategies is crucial to reversing current trends and fostering long-term health benefits for adolescents in SSA.
Authors
- Till Bärnighausen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4182-4212)
- Darinka Korovljev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2510-3044)
- Ourohiré Millogo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2552-8122)
- Sylvain Y. M. Some (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-305X)
- Christine Neumann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7147-6687)
- Ramadhani Noor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6479-1452)
- Joy Mauti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0949-4417)
- Shuyan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6948-5734)
- Elisabetta Ferrero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2571-933X)
- Sachin Shinde (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6369-4212)
- Innocent B. Mboya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9861-5879)
- Marijana Ranisavljev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1767-205X)
- Nikola Todorović (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8850-8439)
- Sergej M. Ostojić (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7270-2541)
Institutions
- University of Agder (NO)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- University Hospital Heidelberg (DE)
- Moshi Co-operative University (TZ)
- Anusandhan Trust (IN)
- Center for Health, Exercise and Sport Sciences (RS)
- Institute of Public Health of Serbia (RS)
- Harvard Global Health Institute (US)
- Africa Academy for Public Health (TZ)
- Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna (BF)
- Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (BF)
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- International Journal of Public Health
- Published
- 2025-09-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2025.1608609
- Primary Topic
- Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- European Commission
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung