Table 1 Summary of study characteristics
Author, publication year | Phenomenon of interest (outcome) | Sampling of participants | Sample characteristics (sex, age, race/ethnicity, setting, country) | Data collection methods, number of focus groups/interviews | Theoretical framework | Analytical method/approach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Campbell, 2009 [39] | Dietary choices | School-based: 12 adolescents | Sex: mixed Age: 14-16 years (9th-10th grades) Race/ethnicity: 8 Hispanic, 2 bi-racial African American Hispanic and Caucasian Hispanic, 1 Eurasian and 1 African American Setting: public high school Country: US | FG discussions: one group interviewed twice, during lunch and immediately after | Developmental psychology by Piaget and Erikson | No detailed description of analytical procedures Content analyses |
Chatterjee, 2016 [46] | School food | School-based (1 school): 32 students, 10 parents, 14 faculty/staff, 3 school leadership roles. | Sex: no information Age: 13-19 years (9th-12th graders) Race/ethnicity: 98% "color" Setting: public high school Country: US | FG discussions: 1 9th grade students FG, 1 10th grade students FG, 1 11th grade students FG, 1 12th grade students FG, 2 parent FGs, 1 teacher/staff FG. Interviews: 3 school leadership roles | No information | Immersion-crystallization method |
Christiansen, 2013 [47] | Eating habits | Community-based: 20 adolescents | Sex: mixed Age: 10-16 years Race/ethnicity: African American Setting: recreation centers Country: US | 2 adolescents FG discussions, 18 adolescents interviews plus direct observation in stores | Ecological model from Bronfenbrenner and social cognitive theory | Significant themes identified before coding. Themes were subsequently categorized, and a codebook was developed for use during the coding process |
Cullen, 2007 [40] | School food | School-based (6 schools): schoolchildren, schoolstaff (number of participants not provided) and 7 district school food administrators | Sex: no info Age: 11-14 years Race/ethnicity: African Americans, Hispanics, White, Native American, other Setting: middle schools Country: US | 11 FGs with schoolchildren and school staff. 7 interviews with district school food administrators | No information | No detailed description of analytical procedures |
Dalma, 2016 [48] | Healthy eating | School-based (14 schools): 98 schoolchildren (28 8-10 years schoolchildren, 31 10-12 years schoolchildren, 39 junior high school students) and 44 parents (22 parents elementary school students, 22 parents junior high school students) | Sex: no info Age: 9-15 years (3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th graders, junior high school) Race/ethnicity: no info Setting: elementary and secondary public schools Country: Greece | 20 FGs with school children and parents: 4 FGs 8-10 years schoolchildren, 4 FGs 10-12 years schoolchildren, 6 FGs junior high school students, 3 FGs parents elementary school students, 3 FGs parents junior high school students. | No information | Krueger’s ‘long table approach’ method |
Davison, 2015 [49] | Healthy eating | Community-based: 14 young people attending "Not in education, employment or training" youth support services, 7 service providers | Sex: mixed Age: 16-20 years Race/ethnicity: no information Setting: youth support services Country: Northern Ireland, UK | 3 FGs with young people. 6 interviews and one-paired interview with service providers (6 females and one male). | Social cognitive theory | Thematic content analyses |
Dodson, 2009 [41] | Food consumption behavior | Community-based (3 centers): samples size not clearly reported for adolescents, 7 adults (1 teacher, 1 parent, 1 storeowner, 4 community center administrators) | Sex: mixed Age: 12-17 years Race/ethnicity: African American Setting: community organizations Country: US | 15 interviews with 9 adolescents (3 boys and 6 girls), 1 FG with 5 girls and a paired interview with boys, 5 girls took pictures, 1 FG with 3 girls and paired interview with 2 boys, 7 interviews with adults plus observation in stores | Social cognitive theory | Data obtained through qualitative methods with adolescents were triangulated by conducting participant observation and interviews with adults in the community. Interviews data were analyzed using content analysis and coding techniques |
Gerritsen, 2019 [38] | Fruit and vegetable intake | Community-based: 17 students, parents,teachers, community leaders, local retailers, and health promoters | Sex: mixed Age: 16-25 years Race/ethnicity: Maori, Pacific, Asian and New Zealand European Setting: neighborhood community Country: New Zealand | Three group model building workshops with all participants together | No information | Structured system dynamics method to create a causal loop diagram |
Goh, 2009 [42] | Healthy eating (and physical activity) | School- based (2 schools): 119 adolescents, 63 parents, and 28 community stakeholders | Sex: mixed Age: mean 12 years (7th-8th graders) Race/ethnicity: 58% Latino Setting: middle school Country: US | FG discussions: 6 male teenagers FGs, 8 female teenagers FGs, 8 parent FGs. 28 interviews with community stakeholders | No information | No information |
Greer, 2018 [50] | Local produce consumption | School-based (3 schools): 53 students | Sex: mixed Age: no information Race/ethnicity: non-Hispanic black, Hispanic, non-Hispanic white and Asian Setting: public high schools Country: US | 6 students FGs (2 FGs per school) | Social cognitive theory | No information |
Harrison, 2005 [43] | Dietary habits, attitudes and knowledge | Community-based: 236 participants (15 key informants, 116 parents, and 105 youth participants) | Sex: no info Age: 11-14 years Race/ethnicity: Asian American (Chinese, Vietnamese, and Hmong) Setting: community-based organizations Country: US | 24 youth and parents FGs 15 interviews with key informants | No information | Simple thematic content analysis was used to summarize the data by ethnic group and across groups |
Kubik, 2005 [44] | Dietary practice (and physical activity) | School-based (7 alternate high schools): 70 students | Sex: mixed Age: 9th-12th graders Race/ethnicity: non-Caucasian origin (American Indian, African American, Hispanic and Asian) Setting: alternative high school Country: US | 7 students FGs | Social cognitive theory and ecologic theory are included in the discussion | Systematic three-step process as described by Miles and Huberman (1994) |
Neumark-Sztainer, 1999 [37] | Food choices and eating behaviors | School-based (2 schools): 141 students | Sex: mixed Age: mean age 12.6 years (12-14 years) and mean age 16 years (15-19 years) Race/ethnicity: white, Asian American, African American, multiracial, Hispanic and Native American Setting: high school Country: US | 21 students FGs: 7 7th grade female students FGs, 5 7th grade male students FGs, 4 10th grade female students FGs and 5 10th grade male students FGs | Social cognitive theory is included in the discussion | Systematic analytical approach using the constant comparative method of grounded theory |
Payan, 2017 [51] | Healthy eating and school food | School-based (3 schools): 64 students | Sex: mixed Age: mean age 16.3 years (14-19 years) Race/ethnicity: Hispanic/Latino (59.4%) and African American (32.8%) Setting: high school Country: US | 8 students FGs | Self-determination theory is included in the discussion | Grounded theory |
Pham, 2007 [45] | Dietary practices around fruit and vegetable intake (and physical activity) | Community-based: 40 youth participants, 44 parents, and 5 key informants | Sex: mixed Age: 11-14 years Race/ethnicity: Hmong (Southeast Asian origin) Setting: community-based organizations Country: US | 8 FGs with youth and parents 5 key informants interviews | No information | No detailed description of analytical procedures. Data were coded and content analyzed |
Stephens, 2015 [52] | Fruit and vegetable intake | School-based (3 schools): 22 adolescents | Sex: mixed Age: 12-15 years (7th and 8th graders) Race/ethnicity: no information Setting: secondary schools Country: Australia | 22 telephone interviews with adolescents | Social ecological theory | Grounded theory and inductive thematic analysis |