EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAMS FROM A PUBLIC HEALTH PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

A systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the efficacy of school interventions in preventing child obesity and its risk factors, such as sedentary behaviour, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity. The review of 83 studies, taking into account the education and health stakeholders' views in Canada, reported that Comprehensive School Health and school nutrition policy change interventions significantly enhanced fruit intake by 0.13 and 0.30 servings per day, respectively. But none of the interventions had a statistically significant effect on veggie intake, illustrating the necessity for further investigation to address this part of healthy eating.