ArticleBMJ open2026
Effects of school feeding programmes integrating food systems components on health, nutrition, education and food systems outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol.
Article in BMJ open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionSchool feeding programmes reach over 466 million children globally, making them one of the largest social safety nets worldwide. Beyond providing immediate nutritional benefits, school feeding programmes increasingly aim to strengthen local food systems through procurement from smallholder farmers, support for sustainable agriculture, community kitchen involvement and broader development outcomes. However, evidence on how school feeding programmes can simultaneously improve nutrition and educational outcomes while transforming food systems in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains fragmented. This systematic review will synthesise evidence on the effects of school feeding interventions with explicit food system components on health, nutrition, education and food system outcomes among school-age children and adolescents in LMICs. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We conducted comprehensive searches in MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase (Ovid), CENTRAL (Cochrane Library), Web of Science, Google Scholar, completed on 18 February 2026, with grey literature searches ongoing and to be completed subsequently. We will include randomised controlled trials (RCTs), non-RCTs and quasi-experimental studies with comparison groups examining school feeding interventions with food system components among school-age children and adolescents (5-19 years) in LMICs. Two reviewers will independently screen titles and abstracts, review full texts, extract data and assess study quality using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tools (RoB 2 for RCTs and Risk Of Bias In Non-Randomized Studies - of Interventions (ROBINS-I) for non-randomised studies). Certainty of evidence will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. We will conduct narrative synthesis using the Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guidelines and meta-analysis where appropriate. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required for this systematic review as no primary data will be collected. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication, conference presentations and policy briefs targeting international organisations, governments and development partners working on school feeding and food systems in LMICs.
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Registered trials
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