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Review
. 2021 Jun 8;8(6):489.
doi: 10.3390/children8060489.

The Effectiveness of School-Based Interventions on Obesity-Related Behaviours in Primary School Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

Sarah Nally  1 , Angela Carlin  1 , Nicole E Blackburn  2 , Judith S Baird  3 , Jo Salmon  4 , Marie H Murphy  1 , Alison M Gallagher  3
Affiliations
Review

The Effectiveness of School-Based Interventions on Obesity-Related Behaviours in Primary School Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

Sarah Nally et al. Children (Basel). .

Erratum in

Abstract

School-based interventions are promising for targeting a change in obesity-related behaviours in children. However, the efficacy of school-based interventions to prevent obesity remains unclear. This review examined the effectiveness of school-based interventions at changing obesity-related behaviours (increased physical activity, decreased sedentary behaviour and improved nutrition behaviour) and/or a change in BMI/BMI z-score. Following PRISMA guidelines, seven databases were systematically searched from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2020. Two review authors independently screened studies for eligibility, completed data extraction and assessed the risk of bias of each of the included studies. Forty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in a narrative synthesis. Thirty-seven studies were eligible for inclusion in a meta-analysis. The findings demonstrate that interventions in children when compared to controls resulted in a small positive treatment effect in MVPA in the control group (2.14; 95% CI = 0.77, 3.50). There was no significant effect on sedentary behaviour, energy intake, and fruit and vegetable intake, and BMI kg/m2. A small significant reduction was found between groups in BMI z-score (-0.04; 95% CI = -0.07, -0.01) in favour of the intervention. The findings have important implications for future intervention research in terms of the effectiveness of intervention components and characteristics.

Keywords: children; meta-analysis; nutrition; physical activity; school-based interventions; sedentary behaviour; systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of study selection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of assessment of risk of bias (n = 48).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Difference between intervention and control groups of school-based interventions in primary school children at follow-up in BMI (kg/m2).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Difference between intervention and control groups of school-based interventions in primary school children in BMI z-score.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Assessment of publication bias: funnel plot (BMI z score).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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