ArticleBMC public health2013
A cross-sectional examination of school characteristics associated with overweight and obesity among grade 1 to 4 students.
Article in BMC public health, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- State-of-the-art of measures of the obesogenic environment for children.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2021Pooled it
- A multiple case history and systematic review of adoption, diffusion, implementation and impact of provincial daily physical activity policies in Canadian schools.BMC public health · 2015Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of the Bibliometrics and Methodological Research Used on Studies Focused on School Neighborhood Built Environment and the Physical Health of Children and Adolescents.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Obesogenic Characteristics of Primary Schools in an Urban Philippine Municipality: A Descriptive Study.Acta medica Philippina · 2025Article
- The Relationship of Urban Form on Children and Adolescent Health Outcomes: A Scoping Review of Canadian Evidence.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Identification of Effective Programs to Improve Access to and Use of Trails among Youth from Under-Resourced Communities: A Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Review
- The associations of specific school- and individual-level characteristics with obesity among primary school children in Beijing, China.Public health nutrition · 2020Article
- Association between the school environment and children's body mass index in Terengganu: A cross sectional study.PloS one · 2020Article
- The double burden of malnutrition in a rural health and demographic surveillance system site in South Africa: a study of primary schoolchildren and their mothers.BMC public health · 2019Article
- Association between school-level attributes and weight status of Ghanaian primary school children.BMC public health · 2019Article
- Feasibility study of a combined lifestyle behaviors and asthma self-management intervention for school-aged children.Journal for specialists in pediatric nursing : JSPN · 2018Article
- Protocol for systematic review of school-based interventions to prevent and control obesity in African learners.BMJ open · 2017Article
- A systematic review of how researchers characterize the school environment in determining its effect on student obesity.BMC obesity · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExcessive weight gain among youth is an ongoing public health concern. Despite evidence linking both policies and the built environment to adolescent and adult overweight, the association between health policies or the built environment and overweight are often overlooked in research with children. The purpose of this study was to examine if school-based physical activity policies and the built environment surrounding a school are associated with weight status among children.
methodsObjectively measured height and weight data were available for 2,331 grade 1 to 4 students (aged 6 to 9 years) attending 30 elementary schools in Ontario, Canada. Student-level data were collected using parent reports and the PLAY-On questionnaire administered to students by study nurses. School-level policy data were collected from school administrators using the Physical Activity Module of the Healthy School Planner tool, and built environment data were provided by the Enhanced Points of Interest data resource. Multi-level logistic regression models were used to examine the school- and student-level characteristics associated with the odds of a student being overweight or obese.
resultsThere was significant between-school random variation in the odds of a student being overweight [σ²(μ0) = 0.274(0.106), p < 0.001], but not for being obese [σ²(μ0) = 0.115(0.089)]. If a student attended a school that provided student access to a variety of facilities on and off school grounds during school hours or supported active transportation to and from school, he/she was less likely to overweight than a similar student attending a school without these policies. Characteristics of the built environment were not associated with overweight or obesity among this large cross-sectional sample of children.
conclusionsThis new evidence suggests that it may be wise to target obesity prevention efforts to schools that do not provide student access to recreation facilities during school hours or schools that do not support active transportation for students. Future research should evaluate if school-based overweight and obesity prevention programming might be improved if interventions selectively targeted the school characteristics that are putting students at the greatest risk.
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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.