School health programs of physical education and/or diet among pupils of primary and secondary school levels I and II linked to body mass index: A systematic review protocol within the project From Science 2 School

PLoS One. 2022 Oct 6;17(10):e0275012. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275012. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

The most common causes of death in Western countries today are preventable diseases mainly attributed to daily behavior. It has been well documented that genetics are influential but not the deciding factor for developing non-communicable diseases. Ideally, the public should be educated to perform methods of optimal health and wellbeing independently, meaning that individuals should be in control of their health without relying on others. As behavior is known to be consistent over time, good or poor health behavior will track from childhood into adulthood. Physical activity and diet are permanently linked to the individual's state of health, and when properly balanced, the effects on personal health summate, resulting in greater benefits from this dual-approach for public health. The objective is to highlight the different approaches (physical intervention, nutritional intervention, and dual-approach of diet and exercise) and identify effective interventions for sustainable body weight and healthy body mass index in school children. A systematic review will be conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The review will assess school-based diet and exercise interventions on children in primary and secondary school levels I and II. Overweight and obesity develop as a result of a prolonged imbalance in the energy balance model, with both physical activity and diet being influential in the fluctuation of body weight. A dual-approach including physical activity and diet could therefore be a very promising method to promote sustainable healthy body weight in school children.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Body Mass Index
  • Body Weight
  • Child
  • Diet*
  • Humans
  • Meta-Analysis as Topic
  • Physical Education and Training*
  • School Health Services
  • Schools
  • Systematic Reviews as Topic

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the doctoral scholarship University of Innsbruck Vice Rector for Research for promoting young scientists (Author DT): No. 2020/2/PSY/SPORT-21. URL: https://www.uibk.ac.at/rektorenteam/forschung/index.html.en The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.