Evaluating School-Based Obesity Prevention Interventions in 6- to 12-Year-Old Children: a scoping review of all reported outcomes and expert consultation

Teatske Altenburg; Lotte de Vries; Janneke Van 't Hooft; Arend van Deutekom; Tessa  Roseboom; Erica  van den Akker; Michael Duncan; Ulf Ekelund; John J. Reilly; Lisa Reilly; Annette  Stafleu; Martyn Standage; Mai Chinapaw; Deirdra Harrington

doi:10.1111/obr.70125

Evaluating School-Based Obesity Prevention Interventions in 6- to 12-Year-Old Children: a scoping review of all reported outcomes and expert consultation

Teatske Altenburg, Lotte de Vries, Janneke Van 't Hooft, Arend van Deutekom, Tessa Roseboom, Erica van den Akker, Michael Duncan, Ulf Ekelund, John J. Reilly, Lisa Reilly, Annette Stafleu, Martyn Standage, Mai Chinapaw, Deirdra Harrington

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Introduction: This scoping review aims to identify all outcomes reported in school-based obesity prevention interventions in childhood. It serves as an essential first step towards developing an internationally agreed-upon Core Outcome Set (COS), which defines what should be measured in all school-based childhood obesity prevention studies, thereby reducing research waste and enhancing the comparability and relevance of future research. Methods: Four databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and PsycINFO) were searched for published studies on controlled trials of school-based overweight/obesity prevention interventions in 6- to 12-year-olds, from inception until June 2024. Two researchers independently searched for relevant articles, extracted study/intervention characteristics, and reported outcomes. Through multiple meetings and feedback rounds, an international expert panel, including researchers (n = 5), healthcare providers (n = 4; i.e., pediatrician, youth health physician, dietician, psychologist), and a health educator identified unique outcomes underlying all reported outcomes, by reflecting on what was measured irrespective of how outcomes were defined and measured. Results: In total, 262 published studies that evaluated 242 interventions were included in this review. From these studies, we extracted 642 different reported outcomes. BMI (kg/m ²) was the most frequently reported outcome (128 studies), then BMI-z (108 studies) and BMI categories (100 studies). Experts identified 69 unique outcomes from all reported outcomes. Conclusion: There is substantial heterogeneity in outcomes reported in studies evaluating school-based overweight/obesity prevention interventions in 6- to 12-year-olds, limiting a synthesis of evidence in meta-analyses. This highlights the need for a consensus-based COS to improve the comparability and relevance of evidence of childhood obesity prevention trials.

Original language	English
Article number	e70125
Journal	Obesity Reviews
Early online date	12 Mar 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.70125
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 12 Mar 2026

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the Supporting Information of this article.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Chloë Mikelj for her contribution to the data extraction and Lieke van Houtum (LH) and Lucy Smit (LS) for their contribution to the identification of unique outcomes.

Funding

Parts of this work were supported by the Health Behaviours and Chronic Diseases (HBCD) program of the Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute (2016 and 2017), the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund at the University of Leicester (2020), and by an RSE Saltire International Collaboration Award (November 2021 to October 2022).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

children
core outcome set
obesity prevention
school-based program

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Access to Document

10.1111/obr.70125Licence: CC BY

Cite this

Altenburg, T., de Vries, L., Van 't Hooft, J., van Deutekom, A., Roseboom, T., van den Akker, E., Duncan, M., Ekelund, U., Reilly, J. J., Reilly, L., Stafleu, A., Standage, M., Chinapaw, M., & Harrington, D. (2026). Evaluating School-Based Obesity Prevention Interventions in 6- to 12-Year-Old Children: a scoping review of all reported outcomes and expert consultation. Obesity Reviews, Article e70125. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.70125

Altenburg, T, de Vries, L, Van 't Hooft, J, van Deutekom, A, Roseboom, T, van den Akker, E, Duncan, M, Ekelund, U, Reilly, JJ, Reilly, L, Stafleu, A, Standage, M, Chinapaw, M & Harrington, D 2026, 'Evaluating School-Based Obesity Prevention Interventions in 6- to 12-Year-Old Children: a scoping review of all reported outcomes and expert consultation', Obesity Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.70125

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title = "Evaluating School-Based Obesity Prevention Interventions in 6- to 12-Year-Old Children: a scoping review of all reported outcomes and expert consultation",

abstract = "Introduction: This scoping review aims to identify all outcomes reported in school-based obesity prevention interventions in childhood. It serves as an essential first step towards developing an internationally agreed-upon Core Outcome Set (COS), which defines what should be measured in all school-based childhood obesity prevention studies, thereby reducing research waste and enhancing the comparability and relevance of future research. Methods: Four databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and PsycINFO) were searched for published studies on controlled trials of school-based overweight/obesity prevention interventions in 6- to 12-year-olds, from inception until June 2024. Two researchers independently searched for relevant articles, extracted study/intervention characteristics, and reported outcomes. Through multiple meetings and feedback rounds, an international expert panel, including researchers (n = 5), healthcare providers (n = 4; i.e., pediatrician, youth health physician, dietician, psychologist), and a health educator identified unique outcomes underlying all reported outcomes, by reflecting on what was measured irrespective of how outcomes were defined and measured. Results: In total, 262 published studies that evaluated 242 interventions were included in this review. From these studies, we extracted 642 different reported outcomes. BMI (kg/m 2) was the most frequently reported outcome (128 studies), then BMI-z (108 studies) and BMI categories (100 studies). Experts identified 69 unique outcomes from all reported outcomes. Conclusion: There is substantial heterogeneity in outcomes reported in studies evaluating school-based overweight/obesity prevention interventions in 6- to 12-year-olds, limiting a synthesis of evidence in meta-analyses. This highlights the need for a consensus-based COS to improve the comparability and relevance of evidence of childhood obesity prevention trials.",

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author = "Teatske Altenburg and \{de Vries\}, Lotte and \{Van 't Hooft\}, Janneke and \{van Deutekom\}, Arend and Tessa Roseboom and \{van den Akker\}, Erica and Michael Duncan and Ulf Ekelund and Reilly, \{John J.\} and Lisa Reilly and Annette Stafleu and Martyn Standage and Mai Chinapaw and Deirdra Harrington",

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language = "English",

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T1 - Evaluating School-Based Obesity Prevention Interventions in 6- to 12-Year-Old Children

T2 - a scoping review of all reported outcomes and expert consultation

AU - Altenburg, Teatske

AU - de Vries, Lotte

AU - Van 't Hooft, Janneke

AU - van Deutekom, Arend

AU - Roseboom, Tessa

AU - van den Akker, Erica

AU - Duncan, Michael

AU - Ekelund, Ulf

AU - Reilly, John J.

AU - Reilly, Lisa

AU - Stafleu, Annette

AU - Standage, Martyn

AU - Chinapaw, Mai

AU - Harrington, Deirdra

PY - 2026/3/12

Y1 - 2026/3/12

N2 - Introduction: This scoping review aims to identify all outcomes reported in school-based obesity prevention interventions in childhood. It serves as an essential first step towards developing an internationally agreed-upon Core Outcome Set (COS), which defines what should be measured in all school-based childhood obesity prevention studies, thereby reducing research waste and enhancing the comparability and relevance of future research. Methods: Four databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and PsycINFO) were searched for published studies on controlled trials of school-based overweight/obesity prevention interventions in 6- to 12-year-olds, from inception until June 2024. Two researchers independently searched for relevant articles, extracted study/intervention characteristics, and reported outcomes. Through multiple meetings and feedback rounds, an international expert panel, including researchers (n = 5), healthcare providers (n = 4; i.e., pediatrician, youth health physician, dietician, psychologist), and a health educator identified unique outcomes underlying all reported outcomes, by reflecting on what was measured irrespective of how outcomes were defined and measured. Results: In total, 262 published studies that evaluated 242 interventions were included in this review. From these studies, we extracted 642 different reported outcomes. BMI (kg/m 2) was the most frequently reported outcome (128 studies), then BMI-z (108 studies) and BMI categories (100 studies). Experts identified 69 unique outcomes from all reported outcomes. Conclusion: There is substantial heterogeneity in outcomes reported in studies evaluating school-based overweight/obesity prevention interventions in 6- to 12-year-olds, limiting a synthesis of evidence in meta-analyses. This highlights the need for a consensus-based COS to improve the comparability and relevance of evidence of childhood obesity prevention trials.

AB - Introduction: This scoping review aims to identify all outcomes reported in school-based obesity prevention interventions in childhood. It serves as an essential first step towards developing an internationally agreed-upon Core Outcome Set (COS), which defines what should be measured in all school-based childhood obesity prevention studies, thereby reducing research waste and enhancing the comparability and relevance of future research. Methods: Four databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and PsycINFO) were searched for published studies on controlled trials of school-based overweight/obesity prevention interventions in 6- to 12-year-olds, from inception until June 2024. Two researchers independently searched for relevant articles, extracted study/intervention characteristics, and reported outcomes. Through multiple meetings and feedback rounds, an international expert panel, including researchers (n = 5), healthcare providers (n = 4; i.e., pediatrician, youth health physician, dietician, psychologist), and a health educator identified unique outcomes underlying all reported outcomes, by reflecting on what was measured irrespective of how outcomes were defined and measured. Results: In total, 262 published studies that evaluated 242 interventions were included in this review. From these studies, we extracted 642 different reported outcomes. BMI (kg/m 2) was the most frequently reported outcome (128 studies), then BMI-z (108 studies) and BMI categories (100 studies). Experts identified 69 unique outcomes from all reported outcomes. Conclusion: There is substantial heterogeneity in outcomes reported in studies evaluating school-based overweight/obesity prevention interventions in 6- to 12-year-olds, limiting a synthesis of evidence in meta-analyses. This highlights the need for a consensus-based COS to improve the comparability and relevance of evidence of childhood obesity prevention trials.

KW - children

KW - core outcome set

KW - obesity prevention

KW - school-based program

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105032560835

U2 - 10.1111/obr.70125

DO - 10.1111/obr.70125

M3 - Review article

SN - 1467-789X

JO - Obesity Reviews

JF - Obesity Reviews

M1 - e70125

ER -

Evaluating School-Based Obesity Prevention Interventions in 6- to 12-Year-Old Children: a scoping review of all reported outcomes and expert consultation

Abstract

Data Availability Statement

Acknowledgements

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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