School-based interventions are promising for targeting a change in obesity-related behaviours in children. However, the efficacy of school-based interventions to prevent obesity remains unclear. This review examined the effectiveness of school-based interventions at changing obesity-related behaviours (increased physical activity, decreased sedentary behaviour and improved nutrition behaviour) and/or a change in BMI/BMI z-score. Following PRISMA guidelines, seven databases were systematically searched from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2020. Two review authors independently screened studies for eligibility, completed data extraction and assessed the risk of bias of each of the included studies. Forty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in a narrative synthesis. Thirty-eight studies were eligible for inclusion in a meta-analysis. The findings demonstrate that interventions in children when compared to controls resulted in a small positive treatment effect in the control group (2.14; 95% CI = 0.77, 3.50). There was no significant effect on sedentary behaviour, energy intake and fruit and vegetable intake. Significant reductions were found between groups in BMI kg/m2 (−0.39; 95% CI = −0.47, −0.30) and BMI z-score (−0.05; 95% CI = −0.08, −0.02) in favour of the intervention. The findings have important implications for future intervention research in terms of the effectiveness of intervention components and characteristics.

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AbstractBoarfish (Capros aper) is an underutilised pelagic fish species found in abundance in Irish waters. Research previously undertaken has shown a favourable effect of boarfish derived protein hydrolysate (BFH) consumption on glycaemic control in diabetic murine models. This study aims to investigate the effect of daily BFH consumption on glycated haemoglobin and body mass index (BMI) in overweight human participants.A randomised parallel placebo-controlled human intervention study was undertaken to investigate the effect of consuming BFH (3.5g/day) for 12 weeks. Participants (n = 40) that met the following inclusion criteria were recruited; aged between 18–65 years, non-smoker, not currently pregnant or lactating, BMI > 25.0 kg/m2, free from illness. Participants were randomly assigned to consume either BFH or cellulose capsules for 12 weeks. Measures taken at baseline and post-intervention (week 12) included fasting measures of: glycated haemoglobin, glucose, insulin, leptin, glucagon like peptide (GLP-1), adiponectin as well as lipid profile. Height and weight were also recorded at both timepoints. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) controlling for baseline values as well as other covariates (age & BMI), was used to compare differences between groups over time.Consumption of BFH (3.5g/day) for 12 weeks had no significant effect on glucose, insulin, leptin, glucagon like peptide (GLP-1), adiponectin, high density lipoprotein (HDL), total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein compared with control. No significant difference in glycated haemoglobin change over time (P = 0.123) was noted following consumption of placebo (2.5% increase) in comparison to those consuming the boarfish treatment (1.5% reduction).This study showed that 3.5 g of BFH per day did not elicit an effect on any of the markers of metabolic health. Previous studies investigating the effect of protein consumption on metabolic health have used higher concentrations than were utilized in this study, however using similar concentrations in this study was not plausible given the lack of organoleptic acceptability of the BFH. Addressing the organoleptic properties of BFH may enable future studies to increase the dose of BFH to a level that may be more efficacious than the current study.

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