Marion Herens

• PhD
• Food and nutritrion security expert at Wageningen University & Research

Overweight and obesity rates across low- and middle-income countries have approached levels found in high-income countries. While overweight and obesity are more prevalent in urban areas, they are also on the rise in rural areas. Little research has been conducted on the effects of food systems on overweight and obesity. This paper presents the fin...

This report is a compilation of a workshop sessions held with stakeholders engaged in a foresight and scenario develop process to develop a Dhaka Food Agenda 2041. The report describes the rationale and the different steps undertaken in the process as well as its outputs. Stakeholders have interacted and explored the Dhaka Metropolitan food system...

Food systems governance for healthy and sustainable diets remains a challenge. New structures are needed to better connect food systems actors. This paper argues that existing multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) have the potential to contribute to food systems governance by facilitating linkages between actors and scales. In a non-experimental study...

The Food Systems for Healthier Diets (FSHD) program is a flagship under the A4NH CGIAR research program. It seeks to contribute to healthier diets for poor and vulnerable populations through a better understanding of food system-diet dynamics and through identifying and enabling innovations in value chains and policies. The present study aimed to s...

The Food Systems for Healthier Diets (FSHD) program is a flagship under the A4NH CGIAR research program. It seeks to contribute to healthier diets for poor and vulnerable populations through a better understanding of food system-diet dynamics and through identifying and enabling innovations in value chains and policies. The present study aimed to s...

Sense of Coherence (SOC), a concept that refers to an individuals’ ability to manage, comprehend, and find meaning in their lives and the world around them, has been shown to be an important predictor of health outcomes. While SOC was initially hypothesized to be static after early-adulthood, there is growing evidence that health interventions can...

This report presents the key highlights and contributions from the conference ‘Monitoring and Evaluation for Inclusive and Sustainable Food Systems’. This conference was held on 3-4 April 2019 in Wageningen, the Netherlands and was the twelfth annual ‘M&E on the Cutting Edge’ conference. This event was organised by Wageningen Centre for Development...

Abstract Introduction Food systems in Myanmar are rapidly changing. Existing supply chains are adapting to economic, environmental, market and dietary changes. This study explored farm household sense-making processes in relation to these rapid transitions, and the implications for household food and nutrition security Three theoretical lenses we...

The aim of this project was to explore the theme of social innovation for nutrition-sensitive and sustainable agriculture, resulting in examples of improved production and consumption of nutritious food. Social innovation refers to the generation and implementation of new ideas about how people organize interpersonal activities, or social interacti...

Food systems undergo rapid changes in response to economic and market forces, and environmental and dietary changes. This study aimed to disentangle adaptation strategies in farm households balancing interests in the commercial aspects of farming and the consumption of nutritious foods. The area of interest was Central Myanmar, Pakokku region. A li...

Introduction: Facilitating processes for coordinated action in the field of health promotion is a challenge. Poorthuis and Bijl's (2006) Participatory Network Mapping Tool (PNMT) uses visualization and discussion to map the positions and roles of network actors, stimulate learning processes, and elicit actionable knowledge. This article describes...

Developing a framework for pathways from commercially viable agriculture to stimulate consumption of nutritious foods Introduction Food systems in low and middle income countries are undergoing rapid changes in response to economic and market developments, environmental impacts, and dietary changes. With our research project ‘Developmental agric...

In community-based health enhancing physical activity (CBHEPA) programmes, group-based principles for action such as active participation, enjoyment, and fostering group processes are widely advocated. However, not much is known about participants’ perceptions of these principles as there are no assessment tools available. Therefore, this article d...

This article presents a practitioner-based approach to identify key combinations of contextual factors (C) and mechanisms (M) that trigger outcomes (O) in Dutch community-based health-enhancing physical activity (CBHEPA) programs targeting socially vulnerable groups. Data were collected in six programs using semi-structured interviews and focus gro...

Physical inactivity is most commonly found in socially vulnerable groups. Dutch policies target these groups through community-based health-enhancing physical activity (CBHEPA) programs. As robust evidence on the effectiveness of this approach is limited, this study investigated whether CBHEPA programs contribute to an increase in and the maintenan...

Background: Physical inactivity is a core risk factor for non-communicable diseases. In the Netherlands, socially vulnerable groups are relatively less active than groups with higher socio-economic status. Community-based health-enhancing physical activity (CBHEPA) programs aim to empower socially vulnerable groups by improving participants' healt...

Background Physical inactivity is a core risk factor for non-communicable diseases. In the Netherlands, socially vulnerable groups are less physically active than groups with higher socio-economic status. Community-based physical activity (CBPA) programs, aimed to empower socially vulnerable groups by improving health and well-being through physic...

Willingness to pay (WTP) is used to assess individuals' value attribution to health-related quality of life interventions. Little is known about predictors of WTP for sport and physical activity in socially vulnerable groups in community-based physical activity (CBHEPA) programs. This study addresses the questions: What is the WTP for sport and phy...

‘Thre is no recognised, authorative set of values and principles accepted as fundamental and applicable to all health promotion activity’.1 Het RIVM Centrum Gezond Leven (CGL) vraagt, in het kader van het Samenwerkingsverband Erkenning van Interventies, of het beschrijven van werkzame elementen in de beoordelingssystematiek de toekomst wordt. Dit v...

Titel: Wat willen mensen in buurtgerichte beweegprogramma’s betalen voor sport en bewegen? Resultaten van een ‘willingness to pay’ studie Werkveld: onderzoek Trefwoorden (NCVGZ): Gezond leven, Kosteneffectiviteit, Sociaal kwetsbare groepen A: Achtergrond/ doelstelling Willigness to pay (WTP) wordt gebruikt om de waarde die iemand toekent aan gez...

Buurtgerichte beweegprogranuna's richten zich vaak op vrouwen van niet-westerse herkomst, omdat zij relatief minder bewegen. Factoren van invloed op gedragsinitiatie zijn breed onderzocht. Minder is bekend over factoren die van invloed zijn op duurzaam beweeggedrag. Meer kennis van deze factoren kan de effectiviteit van progranuna's verhogen. Doel...

Background Community-based physical activity programs often target ethnic minority groups and women of non-Western origin in particular, because they are relatively less active. Factors affecting physical activity initiation are widely studied. Less is known about factors affecting physical activity maintenance in women of non-Western origin. More...

Agricultural advisors often act as facilitators in network processes with stakeholders in a joint search for solutions acceptable to all. The outcome of such processes is hard to predict. Yet most funding agencies require detailed project descriptions, with SMART formulated targets and performance indicators, to keep executing agencies accountable...

As interventions are not yet successful in substantially improving physical activity levels of low socioeconomic status groups in the Netherlands, it is a challenge to undertake more effective interventions. Participatory community-based physical activity interventions such as Communities on the Move (CoM) seem promising. Evaluating their effective...

Het bevorderen van gezondheid is vaak gericht op het voorkómen en bestrijden van ziekte, waarbij het zoeken naar determinanten van ziekte en gezondheidsrisico’s voorop staat, zowel op individueel als maatschappelijke niveau. Met deze benadering is op zichzelf niets mis. Er zijn zo onmiskenbaar grote successen geboekt. Toch knaagt er iets omdat deze...

Background: As interventions are not yet successful in substantially improving physical activity levels of low socioeconomic status groups in the Netherlands, it is a challenge to undertake more effective interventions. Participatory community-based physical activity interventions such as Communities on the Move (CoM) seem promising. Evaluating the...

Mental development of 4–5-year old children on macrobiotic diets (almost devoid of animal foods and fat) with long-term growth deficits, was studied using the Snijders-Oomen Non-verbal Intelligence (SON) scale. In addition, food consumption and behavioural style of the children, and family and parent characteristics were assessed. Parents were high...