TY - JOUR
T1 - Effectiveness of Policies and Programs to Combat Adult Obesity
T2 - a Systematic Review
AU - Tseng, Eva
AU - Zhang, Allen
AU - Shogbesan, Oluwaseun
AU - Gudzune, Kimberly A.
AU - Wilson, Renee F.
AU - Kharrazi, Hadi
AU - Cheskin, Lawrence J.
AU - Bass, Eric B.
AU - Bennett, Wendy L.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding Information This report is based on research conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Evidence-based Practice Center under contract 290-2012-00007I to AHRQ, Rockville, Maryland.
Funding Information:
Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the authors, who are responsible for its contents; the findings and conclusions do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ. Therefore, no statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ or of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Reproducible Research Statement: Study protocol: Available at www. crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php? ID=CRD42017055750. Statistical code: Not applicable. Data set: Full technical report available at https://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq. gov/topics/obesity-research-methods/systematic-review Funding Source: National Institutes of Health Office of Disease Prevention and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. PROSPERO registry #CRD42017055750.
Funding Information:
The NIH Office of Disease Prevention funded the larger systematic review through an interagency agreement with AHRQ. A working group convened by the NIH assisted in developing the scope of the review and its key questions. Neither organization had a role in study selection, quality assessment, or synthesis. The investigators are solely responsible for the content. The original review is registered with PROSPERO (#CRD42017055750).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Society of General Internal Medicine.
PY - 2018/11/1
Y1 - 2018/11/1
N2 - Background: This systematic review identifies programs, policies, and built-environment changes targeting prevention and control of adult obesity and evaluates their effectiveness. Methods: We searched PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and EconLit from January 2000 to March 2018. We included natural experiment studies evaluating a program, policy, or built-environment change targeting adult obesity and reporting weight/body mass index (BMI). Studies were categorized by primary intervention target: physical activity/built environment, food/beverage, messaging, or multiple. Two reviewers independently assessed the risk of bias for each study using the Effective Public Health Practice Project tool. Results: Of 158 natural experiments targeting obesity, 17 reported adult weight/BMI outcomes. Four of 9 studies reporting on physical activity/built environment demonstrated reduced weight/BMI, although effect sizes were small with low strength of evidence and high risk of bias. None of the 5 studies targeting the food/beverage environment decreased weight/BMI; strength of evidence was low, and 2 studies were rated high risk of bias. Discussion: We identified few natural experiments reporting on the effectiveness of programs, policies, and built-environment changes on adult obesity. Overall, we found no evidence that policies intending to promote physical activity and healthy eating had beneficial effects on weight/BMI and most studies had a high risk of bias. Limitations include few studies met our inclusion criteria; excluded studies in children and those not reporting on weight/BMI outcomes; weight/BMI reporting was very heterogeneous. More high-quality research, including natural experiments studies, is critical for informing the population-level effectiveness of obesity prevention and control initiatives in adults.
AB - Background: This systematic review identifies programs, policies, and built-environment changes targeting prevention and control of adult obesity and evaluates their effectiveness. Methods: We searched PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and EconLit from January 2000 to March 2018. We included natural experiment studies evaluating a program, policy, or built-environment change targeting adult obesity and reporting weight/body mass index (BMI). Studies were categorized by primary intervention target: physical activity/built environment, food/beverage, messaging, or multiple. Two reviewers independently assessed the risk of bias for each study using the Effective Public Health Practice Project tool. Results: Of 158 natural experiments targeting obesity, 17 reported adult weight/BMI outcomes. Four of 9 studies reporting on physical activity/built environment demonstrated reduced weight/BMI, although effect sizes were small with low strength of evidence and high risk of bias. None of the 5 studies targeting the food/beverage environment decreased weight/BMI; strength of evidence was low, and 2 studies were rated high risk of bias. Discussion: We identified few natural experiments reporting on the effectiveness of programs, policies, and built-environment changes on adult obesity. Overall, we found no evidence that policies intending to promote physical activity and healthy eating had beneficial effects on weight/BMI and most studies had a high risk of bias. Limitations include few studies met our inclusion criteria; excluded studies in children and those not reporting on weight/BMI outcomes; weight/BMI reporting was very heterogeneous. More high-quality research, including natural experiments studies, is critical for informing the population-level effectiveness of obesity prevention and control initiatives in adults.
KW - obesity
KW - prevention
KW - systematic reviews
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053553505&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85053553505&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11606-018-4619-z
DO - 10.1007/s11606-018-4619-z
M3 - Review article
C2 - 30206789
AN - SCOPUS:85053553505
VL - 33
SP - 1990
EP - 2001
JO - Journal of General Internal Medicine
JF - Journal of General Internal Medicine
SN - 0884-8734
IS - 11
ER -