SynthesisThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2019
The effectiveness of lunchbox interventions on improving the foods and beverages packed and consumed by children at centre-based care or school: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 6 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
45 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 83 citations in OpenAlex.
- An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews of School-Based Nutrition Interventions to Determine Outcomes Used and Their Measurement Tools.Nutrition reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Healthy eating interventions delivered in early childhood education and care settings for improving the diet of children aged six months to six years.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Obesity Prevention within the Early Childhood Education and Care Setting: A Systematic Review of Dietary Behavior and Physical Activity Policies and Guidelines in High Income Countries.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Consolidating evidence on the effectiveness of interventions promoting fruit and vegetable consumption: an umbrella review.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2021Pooled it
- The Efficacy of Workplace Interventions on Improving the Dietary, Physical Activity and Sleep Behaviours of School and Childcare Staff: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Interventions to increase the consumption of water among children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2020Pooled it
- A theoretically designed scale-up intervention increases adoption of an effective school nutrition program 'SWAP IT': outcomes of a randomised trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2026Trial
- An mHealth Intervention to Reduce the Packing of Discretionary Foods in Children's Lunch Boxes in Early Childhood Education and Care Services: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- Trial
- A Multicomponent mHealth-Based Intervention (SWAP IT) to Decrease the Consumption of Discretionary Foods Packed in School Lunchboxes: Type I Effectiveness-Implementation Hybrid Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Trial
- A randomized controlled trial to assess the potential efficacy, feasibility and acceptability of an m-health intervention targeting parents of school aged children to improve the nutritional quality of foods packed in the lunchbox 'SWAP IT'.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2019Trial
- Lifestyle and family factors associated with childhood overweight: evidence from a case-control study in Indonesian schoolchildren.Korean journal of family medicine · 2026Article
- Lunches in UK early years education and care settings: cross-sectional analysis of food processing, provision and intake.Research square · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of an environmental nutrition and physical activity intervention in early childhood education and care settings (NAPSACC UK): a multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026Article
- Food provision in daycare: perspective of daycare staff and parents in association with nutrient intake and dietary diversity of under-five children.Journal of nutritional science · 2026Article
- "First Bite": An intervention to increase children's vegetable consumption in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services in areas of high socioeconomic disadvantage - a cluster randomized controlled trial protocol.Nutrition and health · 2025Article
- Identifying key determinants influencing the sustainment of physical activity and nutrition programs in Australian primary schools.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Article
- Evaluation of school food policies for secondary schools in Europe: Results for health, acceptance, and affordability from a scoping review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Article
- Better Lunch Boxes: Testing the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Family-Based Pilot Intervention to Support Nutritious Home-Packed Lunches.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Sneak peek: food, waste and packaging characteristics of South Australian school children's lunchboxes.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the effectiveness of lunchbox interventions aiming to improve the foods and beverages packed and consumed by children at centre-based care or school; and subsequent impact on children's adiposity.
methodsSystematic search of nine databases for controlled trials published in English between 1995-January 2017. Where appropriate, data were pooled in a random effects meta-analysis.
resultsOf the 1601 articles identified, ten studies (centre-based care n = 4, school n = 6) were included of which eight were RCTs. The impact of interventions on the packing of discretionary foods, sugar-sweetened drinks and other core foods was inconsistent. Meta-analysis of four RCTs trials found a moderate increase in provision of vegetables (SMD = 0.40 95% CI 0.16 to 0.64, p = 0.001, I
conclusionsThere is some evidence that lunchbox interventions are effective in improving the packing of vegetables in children's lunchboxes, however more robust research is required to determine the impact on children's dietary intake and adiposity.
trial registrationPROSPERO 2016: CRD42016035646 .
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.