Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32612906›Full record

ReviewPreventive medicine reports2020

Effectiveness of school-based health promotion interventions prioritized by stakeholders from health and education sectors: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Julia Dabravolskaj, Genevieve Montemurro, John Paul Ekwaru, Xiu Yun Wu, Kate Storey, Sandra Campbell, Paul J Veugelers, Arto Ohinmaa

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Preventive medicine reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
3.2field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

27 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Umbrella review of systematic reviews to inform the development and translation of community-based childhood obesity prevention interventions.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025
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  13. Consolidating the evidence on the effectiveness of strategies to promote vegetable intake in priority settings: An overview of systematic reviews.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025
    Review
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  19. Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Julia DabravolskajSchool of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Genevieve MontemurroSchool of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
John Paul EkwaruSchool of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Xiu Yun WuSchool of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Kate StoreySchool of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Sandra CampbellJohn W. Scott Health Sciences Library, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Paul J VeugelersSchool of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Arto OhinmaaSchool of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
University of Alberta · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Childhood obesity and associated modifiable risk factors exert significant burden on the health care system. The goal of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the effectiveness of school-based intervention types perceived by Canadian stakeholders in health and education as feasible, acceptable and sustainable in terms of improving physical activity (PA), fruit and vegetable intake, and body weight. We searched multiple databases for studies that evaluated school-based interventions to prevent obesity and associated risk factors (i.e., unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, sedentary behaviour) in children aged 4-18 years from January 1, 2012 to January 28, 2020. From 10,871 identified records, we included 83 and 80 studies in our systematic review and meta-analysis, respectively. Comprehensive School Health (CSH) and interventions which focused on modifications to school nutrition policies showed statistically significant positive effects on fruit intake of 0.13 (95% CI: 0.04, 0.23) and 0.30 (95% CI: 0.1, 0.51) servings per day, respectively. No intervention types showed statistically significant effect on vegetable intake. CSH, modifications to physical education (PE) curriculum, and multicomponent interventions showed statistically significant difference in BMI of -0.26 (95% CI: -0.40, -0.12), -0.16 (95% CI: -0.3, -0.02), and -0.18 (95% CI: -0.29, -0.07), respectively. CSH interventions showed positive effect on step-count per day, but no other types of interventions showed significant effect on any of PA outcome measures. Thus, the results of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that decision-makers should carefully consider CSH, multicomponent interventions, modifications to PE curricula and school nutrition policies to prevent childhood obesity.

Indexed as

BMI, body mass indexChildhood obesity preventionCI, confidence intervalCSH, Comprehensive School HealthFV, fruit and vegetableHealth promotionHSAT, Healthy School Action ToolsMeta-analysisMVPA, moderate to vigorous physical activityPA, physical activityPE, physical educationPRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-AnalysesRCT, randomized controlled trialSchool-based interventionsSES, socioeconomic statusSystematic reviewUK, United Kingdom

Identifiers

PMID32612906
PMCPMC7322344
OpenAlexW3033655429

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.