Table 1 Eligibility criteria for elements of a comprehensive search strategy.
Element | Inclusion and exclusion criteria |
|---|---|
Population | Included: School-aged children up to 6 until 11 years old in school settings. If any study includes a broader age range but also contains the target population, it will be considered for the full-text review stage, and the results pertaining to the target group will be incorporated Excluded: Studies involving children aged 5 years or younger, older than 11 years, or those conducted outside school settings, including laboratory-based or highly controlled environments not representative of real-world school contexts |
Intervention | Included: Only prevention-oriented interventions implemented in school settings that aim to promote physical activity and/or healthy eating. This may include single-component (e.g., only educational programmes) or multicomponent interventions (e.g., education combined with environmental or policy changes), such as educational programs, school health initiatives, and strategies applied in the classroom or school environment. The school food environment, as defined by FAO38, includes spaces and circumstances within and around the school where students obtain, purchase, or consume food, along with the related information and food promotion. Interventions outside the school setting are excluded Excluded: Interventions outside the school setting, as well as treatment-oriented programs or clinical management of existing conditions (e.g., obesity treatment programs, pharmacological, or surgical interventions) |
Comparator | As this is an overview of systematic reviews, a comparator or control group is not required for inclusion. However, considering our interest in the effectiveness of behavioral determinants, we included reviews reporting evidence from experimental studies that assess differences between intervention and control or comparator groups |
Outcome | Included: Outcomes related to: (1) Physical activity (e.g., measured by accelerometers, self-reported activity). (2) Healthy eating behavior (e.g., surveys assessing changes in intake of fruits, vegetables, water, sugary beverages, and salt). (3) Anthropometric measures (BMI, BMI z-scores, and BMI percentile) adjusted for age, nutritional status categories (underweight, normal, overweight, obesity), waist circumference). These measures were included whether synthesized at the review level (meta-analysis or narrative synthesis) or reported within individual interventions included in the review, even if not aggregated at the review level Excluded: Studies not reporting specific outcomes related to changes in physical activity, dietary behaviors, or anthropometric measures in children |
Study design | Included: Systematic reviews only*, with no language or publication status restrictions, with or without meta-analysis. Systematic reviews reporting evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) alone or in combination with non-randomized or observational studies. When both designs were included, this distinction was recorded, and details were extracted when RCT results were reported separately Excluded: Studies that are not systematic reviews (for example: primary studies, commentary articles, and conferences) were excluded |
