ArticleHealth research policy and systems2024
A systems thinking framework for understanding rising childhood obesity in the Caribbean.
Article in Health research policy and systems, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Beverage intake among Jamaican School Children: An analysis across child and school environment levels.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Systems approaches in public health: beyond mapping the causes.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Review
- Correction: A systems thinking framework for understanding rising childhood obesity in the Caribbean.Health research policy and systems · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe aim of this study is to develop a systems thinking framework to describe the common complexities of childhood obesity in the Caribbean region and identify potential areas of intervention.
methodsGroup model building (GMB) is a form of systems science. Trained GMB facilitators in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago convened a group of multi-disciplinary stakeholders in a series of virtual meetings in 2021 to elaborate a hypothesis of the system driving childhood obesity represented by causal loop diagrams (CLD). Commonalities and differences between the CLDs from each island were identified and reconciled to create a synthesized CLD.
resultsA single explanatory CLD across the islands was developed and includes nine reinforcing loops. These loops addressed the interconnected role of schools, policy, commercial determinants, community and the personal experience of the child in rising childhood obesity rates.
conclusionsDespite differences across settings, there is a core system driving childhood obesity in the Caribbean, as described by stakeholders in GMB workshops. Policy solutions to the problem must be multi-faceted and multi-level to address the interlinked reinforcing loops of the complex system and reduce rates of childhood obesity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.