Effects of More than Three Months Organized Follow-Up on Physical Activity and Diet for People with Increased Risk of Lifestyle Related Disease [Internet]

Excerpt

«Healthy living centres» (frisklivssentraler) are established in Norway to support change of behaviour that affects health. This systematic review will answer questions about effects of orga- nized follow-up to promote change of physical activity and diet. We searched for studies of interventions with a duration of more than three months that resemble those given in healthy living centres. We included 38 studies based on a literature search completed in March 2013. We conclude, based on our review and assessment of the quality of the documentation:

There is great uncertainty regarding if, and to what degree these interventions contribute to increased physical activity or improved diet. This is because the results vary from no effect to large effect, and because of considerably varying quality of the documentation. There is no documentation that indicates that interventions of more than a year give better results than interventions with a duration up to a year, but direct comparisons are lacking.

We have minimal information on cost-effectiveness or adverse events.

This field of research is characterized by considerable methodological challenges, most notably lack of standardization of outcomes and measurement methods for physical activity and diet, and lack of long-term follow up of the results.

Keywords: Motoractivity; Diet.