SynthesisJournal of public health (Oxford, England)2015
Weighing up the evidence: a systematic review of the effectiveness of workplace interventions to tackle socio-economic inequalities in obesity.
Synthesis in Journal of public health (Oxford, England), 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Socio-economic inequalities in the effectiveness of workplace health promotion programmes on body mass index: An individual participant data meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2020Pooled it
- Socioeconomic inequalities in effectiveness of and compliance to workplace health promotion programs: an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2020Pooled it
- Are workplace health promotion programmes effective for all socioeconomic groups? A systematic review.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Interventions to improve physical activity among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups: an umbrella review.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2018Pooled it
- Use of programme theory to understand the differential effects of interventions across socio-economic groups in systematic reviews-a systematic methodology review.Systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Development of a scalable weight loss intervention for low-income workers through adaptation of interactive obesity treatment approach (iOTA).BMC public health · 2018Trial
- Exploring the dynamics of a free fruit at work intervention.BMC public health · 2016Trial
- Upstream Interventions to Promote Oral Health and Reduce Oral Health Inequalities: A Scoping Review.Community dentistry and oral epidemiology · 2026Article
- Evaluating the Implementation of a Workplace Weight Loss Program Using a Modified Process Evaluation Rating Sheet.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Article
- Socioeconomic determinants of shift work employment in Canada and the Netherlands: a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging and the Hoorn Study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- From checkups to change: Longitudinal changes in lifestyle-related factors following repeated occupational health assessments among 106 005 Swedish workers.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of workplace interventions for health promotion.The Lancet. Public health · 2025Review
- Exploring potential reach and representativeness of a self-weighing weight gain prevention intervention in adults with overweight and obesity.Clinical obesity · 2024Article
- "We're one small piece of the puzzle": evaluating the impact of short-term funding for tier two weight management services.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Responsive evaluation: an innovative evaluation methodology for workplace health promotion interventions.BMJ open · 2022Review
- Advancing Health Equity Efforts to Reduce Obesity: Changing the Course.Annual review of nutrition · 2022Review
- Stakeholder dialogue on dilemmas at work as a workplace health promotion intervention including employees with a low SEP: a Responsive Evaluation.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Impacts of a Workplace-Based Weight-Control Intervention on Objective and Perceived Physical Activity among a Subgroup of Workers.Journal of healthy eating and active living · 2022Article
- Work-related physical and psychosocial risk factors cluster with obesity, smoking and physical inactivity.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2021Article
- The effectiveness of workplace health promotion programs on self-perceived health of employees with a low socioeconomic position: An individual participant data meta-analysis.SSM - population health · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAddressing socio-economic inequalities in obesity is a public health priority and the workplace is seen as a potential health promotion site. However, there is a lack of evidence on what works. This article systematically reviews studies of the effects of workplace interventions on socio-economic inequalities in obesity.
methodsFollowing PRISMA guidelines, we searched for published or unpublished experimental and observational evaluation studies. Nine electronic databases were searched as well as websites and bibliographies. Included studies were data extracted, quality assessed and narratively synthesized.
resultsEighteen studies were included of which 14 examined behavioural interventions and 4 mixed or environmental ones. While most studies (n = 12) found no effects on inequalities in obesity--and a minority found increases (n = 3), there was also some evidence of potentially effective workplace interventions (n = 3) especially in terms of physical activity interventions targeted at lower occupational groups.
conclusionThere is experimental evidence that workplace delivered physical activity interventions have the potential to reduce inequalities in obesity by targeting lower occupational groups. However, overall, the evidence base is small, largely from the USA, and of a low quality. More high-quality, experimental study designs are required.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.