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Actions to address different forms of malnutrition are typically managed by separate communities, policies, programmes, governance structures, and funding streams. By contrast, double-duty actions, which aim to simultaneously tackle both undernutrition and problems of overweight, obesity, and diet-related non-communicable diseases (DR-NCDs) have been proposed as a way to effectively address malnutrition in all its forms in a more holisitic way. This Series paper identifies ten double-duty actions that have strong potential to reduce the risk of both undernutrition, obesity, and DR-NCDs. It does so by summarising evidence on common drivers of different forms of malnutrition; documenting examples of unintended harm caused by some undernutrition-focused programmes on obesity and DR-NCDs; and highlighting examples of double-duty actions to tackle multiple forms of malnutrition. We find that undernutrition, obesity, and DR-NCDs are intrinsically linked through early-life nutrition, diet diversity, food environments, and socioeconomic factors. Some evidence shows that programmes focused on undernutrition have raised risks of poor quality diets, obesity, and DR-NCDs, especially in countries undergoing a rapid nutrition transition. This Series paper builds on this evidence to develop a framework to guide the design of double-duty approaches and strategies, and defines the first steps needed to deliver them. With a clear package of double-duty actions now identified, there is an urgent need to move forward with double-duty actions to address malnutrition in all its forms.

Social Impact Statement Urban agriculture depends on insect pollination, but knowledge gaps persist due to difficulties accessing diverse growing spaces. We developed a citizen science approach for monitoring insect visits to crops and compared grower‐collected data to that of a trained researcher while also gathering participant feedback. Although trends in crop attractiveness were similar, discrepancies highlighted limitations in the reliability of citizen‐collected data alone. This work shows that grower involvement can enhance ecological monitoring and awareness, but methodological support and ongoing dialogue are essential to improve data quality and engagement, both key considerations for future urban food policy and practice. Summary There is a significant knowledge gap regarding the pollination needs of urban farming, partly because accessing urban growing spaces requires permission from multiple different landowners and growers, which can be laborious. Involving growers in data collection offers a potential solution but presents other challenges in terms of data accuracy and participant retention. We developed a citizen science methodology for monitoring plant–pollinator interactions in urban food systems and evaluated the accuracy of data collected by growers by comparison to data collected by a professionally trained researcher. We also collected feedback from participants at the mid‐ and endpoints of the project regarding their experiences of taking part. While there was some agreement between the datasets in terms of the crops most (raspberries and squash) and least attractive (tomatoes) to insects, relying only on the dataset collected by growers themselves would lead to an overestimation of the generality of relationships between crops and pollinating insects in urban food production. Possible reasons for discrepancies between the datasets include species misidentification and non‐reporting of surveys where no insects were observed by citizen scientists. Citizen scientists reported lack of time, concerns about data accuracy and too complex methods as barriers to participation. Implementation of their suggestions for improvements led to a 66% increase in participation in the following year, demonstrating the importance of maintaining a two‐way dialogue between participants and project organisers. Citizen scientists reported an increased appreciation and understanding of insect pollinations following participation, highlighting additional benefits of involving urban growers in data collection. La agricultura urbana depende de la polinización por insectos, pero aun sabemos poco sobre estas interacciones urbanas por las dificultades para acceder a diversos espacios de cultivo. Desarrollamos un enfoque de ciencia ciudadana para monitorear visitas de insectos a los cultivos y comparamos los datos recopilados por los agricultores urbanos con los de un investigador, a la vez que recopilamos opiniones de los participantes. Si bien los datos mostraron tendencias similares, las discrepancias señalan limitaciones en la fiabilidad del enfoque de ciencia ciudadana. La participación de los agricultores urbanos puede mejorar el monitoreo y la concienciación ecológica, pero el apoyo metodológico y el diálogo continuo son esenciales para mejorar la calidad de los datos y la participación, dos consideraciones clave para las futuras políticas y prácticas alimentarias urbanas. Urban agriculture depends on insect pollination, but knowledge gaps persist due to difficulties accessing diverse growing spaces. We developed a citizen science approach for monitoring insect visits to crops and compared grower‐collected data to that of a trained researcher while also gathering participant feedback. Although trends in crop attractiveness were similar, discrepancies highlighted limitations in the reliability of citizen‐collected data alone. This work shows that grower involvement can enhance ecological monitoring and awareness, but methodological support and ongoing dialogue are essential to improve data quality and engagement, both key considerations for future urban food policy and practice.

West Africa has a high burden of malnutrition and the drivers are often complex, highly context-specific, and cut across individual, social, political and environmental domains. Public health research most often considers immediate individual health and diet drivers, at the expense of wider considerations that may fall outside of a health agenda. The objective of this systematic mapping review is to map the broad drivers of malnutrition in West Africa, from public health and social science perspectives, and to evaluate the additional value of an interdisciplinary approach. Evidence was gathered from one public health (MEDLINE) and one social science (International Bibliography of Social Science) database using a detailed search syntax tailored to each disciplinary configuration. Literature was screened against pre-determined eligibility criteria and extracted from abstracts. Studies published in English or French between January 2010 and April 2018 were considered for inclusion. Driver categories (immediate, underlying and basic drivers) were coded against the UNICEF conceptual framework of malnutrition. A total of 358 studies were included; 237 were retrieved from the public health database and 124 from the social science database, 3 studies were included in both. The public health and social science literature document different drivers, with MEDLINE most often reporting immediate drivers of malnutrition and the International Bibliography of Social Science database reporting underlying and basic drivers. The combined literature offers more balanced representation across categories. An interdisciplinary approach proved successful in achieving complementarity in search results while upholding rigorous methods. We recommend that interdisciplinary approaches are utilised to bridge recognised gaps between defined disciplines.

Childhood obesity is a growing global challenge, and no country has yet reversed the upward trend in prevalence. The causes are multifaceted, spanning individual, societal, environmental, and political spheres. This makes finding solutions complex as traditional linear models of treatment and effect have proven only minimally successful or unfeasible at the population level. There is also a paucity of evidence of what works, and few examples of intervention that operate on a ‘whole systems’ level. The city of Brighton in the United Kingdom has experienced a downward trend in child obesity rates compared to national figures. The aim of this study was to explore what has led to successful change in the city. This was done through a review of local data, policy and programs, and thirteen key informant interviews with key stakeholders involved in the local food and healthy weight agenda. Our findings highlight key mechanisms that have plausibly contributed to a supportive environment for obesity reduction in Brighton according to key local policy and civil society actors. These mechanisms include; a commitment to early years intervention such as breastfeeding promotion; a supportive local political context; the ability to tailor interventions to community needs; governance structures and capacity that enable cross-sectoral collaboration; and a citywide framing of obesity solutions in the context of a ‘whole system’ approach. However, substantial inequalities persist in the city. Engaging families in areas of high deprivation and operating in an increasingly difficult context of national austerity are persistent challenges. This case study sheds light on some mechanisms of what a whole systems approach to obesity looks like in practice in a local context. This is of relevance to both policymakers and healthy weight practitioners across a spectrum of sectors who need to be engaged to tackle child obesity.

How does nutrition improve? We need to understand better what drives both positive and negative change in different contexts, and what more can be done to reduce malnutrition. Since 2015, the Stories of Change in Nutrition studies have analysed and documented experiences in many different African and Asian countries, to foster empirically-grounded experiential learning across contexts. This article provides an overview of findings from 14 studies undertaken in nine countries in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe between 2017 and 2021. The studies used a combination of methods, including regression-decomposition analyses of national datasets to assess determinants of nutritional change; policy process and food environment analyses; and community-level research assessing attitudes to change. This article takes a narrative synthesis approach to identify key themes across the studies, paying particular attention to multisectoral determinants, changes in the food environment, the role of structural factors (including longstanding social inequities), and changes in political commitment, cross-sectoral coherence and capacity. Given the inherent multisectoral nature of nutrition, many countries are experimenting with different models of ensuring coherence across sectors that are captured in this body of work. The relative immaturity of the policy sector in dealing with issues such as obesity and overweight, and associated influences in the wider food environment, adds a further challenge. To address these interrelated issues, policy must simultaneously tackle nutrition’s upstream (social/economic/equity) and downstream (health and dietary) determinants. Studies synthesised here provide empirically-driven inspiration for action.

La agricultura urbana depende de la polinización por insectos, pero aun sabemos poco sobre estas interacciones urbanas por las dificultades para acceder a diversos espacios de cultivo. Desarrollamos un enfoque de ciencia ciudadana para monitorear visitas de insectos a los cultivos y comparamos los datos recopilados por los agricultores urbanos con los de un investigador, a la vez que recopilamos opiniones de los participantes. Si bien los datos mostraron tendencias similares, las discrepancias señalan limitaciones en la fiabilidad del enfoque de ciencia ciudadana. La participación de los agricultores urbanos puede mejorar el monitoreo y la concienciación ecológica, pero el apoyo metodológico y el diálogo continuo son esenciales para mejorar la calidad de los datos y la participación, dos consideraciones clave para las futuras políticas y prácticas alimentarias urbanas.

There is a significant knowledge gap regarding the pollination needs of urban farming, partly due to barriers for researchers in accessing these growing spaces. Involving growers in data collection offers a potential solution but presents other challenges in terms of data accuracy and participant retention. We developed a citizen science methodology for monitoring plant-pollinator interactions in urban food systems and evaluated the accuracy of data collected by growers by comparison to data collected by a professionally trained researcher. We also collected feedback from participants at the mid- and endpoints of the project regarding their experiences of taking part. While there was some agreement between the datasets in terms of the crops most (raspberries and squash) and least attractive (tomatoes) to insects, relying only on the dataset collected by growers themselves (citizen scientists) would lead to an overestimation of the generality of relationships between crops and pollinating insects in urban food production. Possible reasons for discrepancies between the datasets include species misidentification and non-reporting of surveys where no insects were observed by citizen scientists. Citizen scientists reported lack of time, concerns about data accuracy and too complex methods as barriers to participation. Implementation of their suggestions for improvements led to a 66% increase in participation in the following year, demonstrating the importance of maintaining a two-way dialogue between participants and project organisers. Citizen scientists also reported an increased appreciation and understanding of insect pollinations following participation, highlighting an additional benefit of involving urban growers in data collection.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.

Adolescence is an important period of physical and cognitive development during which optimal nutrition is crucial. It is an essential time for forming preferences and habits and a key window of opportunity for influencing adult health. In West Africa, while undernutrition rates remains high, there has also been a steady rise in overweight and obesity, and an increasing share of mortality and morbidity due to diet-related noncommunicable diseases (DR-NCDs) among adolescents. f concern is that adolescents are experiencing these diseases earlier in life than previous generations. It is crucial to address adolescents’ nutrition to prevent them from carrying malnutrition into adulthood and to protect their overall health later in life.