Skip to main content

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1504279
This article is part of the Research Topic School-based nutrition and physical activity interventions among children and adolescents View all 12 articles

Comparative Effectiveness of School-Based Obesity Prevention Programs among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Mohamed A. Hassan Mohamed A. Hassan 1DJ McDonough DJ McDonough 2Suryeon Ryu Suryeon Ryu 3Wanjiang Zhou Wanjiang Zhou 2*John Oginni John Oginni 3Zan Gao Zan Gao 3*
  • 1 Helwan University, Helwan, Egypt
  • 2 University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
  • 3 The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    While many randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated the positive effects of school-based programs in reducing body fat among children and teenagers, there is no conclusive evidence to indicate that one approach is superior to another, largely due to the lack of direct and indirect comparisons. This study evaluated the relative effectiveness of various school-based obesity prevention initiatives in improving body mass index (BMI) among children and adolescents through the use of network meta-analysis. Searches included 4 databases focusing on articles published in English between the years 2002 and 2024. The primary outcomes were BMI and BMI z-score (BMIz) (kg/m2). The mean differences (MDs) for each outcome were calculated before and after treatment. The current systematic review synthesized 53 RCTs with a sample of 68,489 children and adolescents. Results illustrated that physical activity (PA) only arm was the most effective intervention in improving BMI (MD: -0.42, 95% credible interval (Crl) -0.79, -0.07; p=0.02). While multiple components arm was the most effective intervention in improving BMIz (MD: -0.08, 95% Crl: -0.16, -0.01; p=0.03). Inversely, PA & another component arm was the least effective intervention in improving BMI (MD: 0.64, 95% Crl: -0.23, 1.53; p=0.15), in addition, diet & nutrition only arm was the least effective intervention in improving BMIz (MD: 0.09, 95% Crl: -0.11, 0.28; p=0.36). In conclusion, PA only and multiple components arms are effective intervention tools/strategies for reducing BMI-related outcomes, nevertheless, large well-designed studies to investigate the elements of multiple components arms warrants further justification.

    Keywords: physical activity, Body Mass Index, BMI, Body Composition, Anthropometry, Diet, intervention

    Received: 30 Sep 2024; Accepted: 03 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Hassan, McDonough, Ryu, Zhou, Oginni and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Wanjiang Zhou, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, 55108, Minnesota, United States
    Zan Gao, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, 37996, Tennessee, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.