Background Previous evidence suggests that school garden-based programmes (SGBP) may be a promising yet cost-effective intervention to improve children’s knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) on healthy eating. This review aimed to summarise and evaluate the evidence available on the impacts of SGBP in addressing diet and nutrition-related KAP among school-aged children. Methods Five databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science and Scopus were searched until February 2021. Randomised, non-randomised controlled and pre-post intervention studies investigating the impacts of SGBP on at least one of the outcomes of interest including diet and nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes towards fruits and vegetables (F&V), food diversity and dietary practice among school-aged children were included. Study selection and data extraction were performed by one reviewer and checked for accuracy by the other two reviewers in accordance with PRISMA guideline. Quality appraisal for studies included was assessed using American Dietetic Association Quality Criteria Checklist. Results A total of 10,836 records were identified, and 35 studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included. This includes 25,726 students from 341 schools and 8 nurseries from 12 countries. Intervention duration ranged from 6 weeks to 4 years with 18 studies involving a varied degree of parental participation. SGBP, which majorly includes school gardening activities, cooking lessons and nutrition education, demonstrated beneficial effects on children’s nutritional knowledge, their attitudes and acceptability towards fruits and vegetables and children’s dietary practices including the actual F&V consumption and dietary diversity. However, the impacts of SGBP on such outcomes were highly influenced by various social and environmental factors including the activities/components and duration of the intervention, parental involvement, sample size, and the age of children when interventions were first introduced. Conclusion These findings suggest that SGBP may be effective in promoting children’s nutritional knowledge, attitudes and acceptability towards vegetables, however, the impacts may vary by the type, the extent, and the length of the programmes, and other factors such as parent involvement. Future SGBP is suggested to implement using a combined multidisciplinary approach targeting the children, parents, and community to effectively promote healthy eating among the children and prevent childhood obesity.

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The presence of the risk allele (G) of FTO rs9930506 was not associated with an increased risk of obesity. Malaysian Indians had a significantly higher frequency of the risk allele (G). Indian participants expressed higher atherogenic phenotypes compared to Chinese and Malays. FTO rs9930506 may interact with dietary protein and vitamin E and modulate hsCRP levels.

<b><i>Background/Aims:</i></b> Excess weight gain is a result of the interaction between diet, environment, and genes. Evidence suggests that responses to lifestyle interventions to manage weight are partially modified by genetic factors. This review is aimed at summarizing the current evidence from studies done on gene variants – single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) – and intervention outcomes on weight loss and obesity-related traits. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Intervention studies published in English between 2000 and August 2018 were retrieved from PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science using various keywords. <b><i>Results:</i></b> This article is a review of 36 studies conducted in 13 different countries which included a total of 15,931 participants between 19 and 70 years of age. The effect of 26 genes and 64 SNPs on the reduction of body weight and metabolic risk factors in response to diet, exercise, and lifestyle interventions was reviewed. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Gene-lifestyle interaction studies on the same candidate gene in different populations have reported information which is challenging to interpret. Thus, it is difficult to arrive at a particular model for a strategy on weight management at this point in time. Most of the intervention studies focus on the effect of variants of a single candidate gene on weight loss. Further evidence from large-scale studies is necessary to assess the effect of multiple candidate genes to compute a gene score that could be used in a model intervention programme. Our review suggests that a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and regular physical activity will benefit individuals who carry the risk alleles of the obesity-related candidate genes. This message should be the mainstay of the recommendations and guidelines published by nutrition societies across the world.

Gene-diet interaction studies have reported that individual variations in phenotypic traits may be due to variations in individual diet. Our study aimed to evaluate (i) the association of ADRB2 rs1042713 with obesity and obesity-related metabolic parameters and (ii) the effect of dietary nutrients on these associations in Malaysian adults. ADRB2 genotyping, dietary, physical activity, anthropometric, and biochemical data were collected from 79 obese and 99 nonobese individuals. Logistic regression revealed no association between ADRB2 rs1042713 and obesity (p=0.725). However, the carriers of G allele (AG + GG genotypes) of rs1042713 were associated with increased odds of insulin resistance, 2.83 (CI = 1.04–7.70, adjusted p=0.042), in the dominant model, even after adjusting for potential confounders. Obese individuals carrying the G allele were associated with higher total cholesterol (p=0.011), LDL cholesterol levels (p=0.008), and total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio (p=0.048), compared to the noncarriers (AA), even after adjusting for potential confounders. Irrespective of obesity, the carriers of GG genotype had significantly lower fasting glucose levels with low saturated fatty acid intake (<7.3% of TE/day) (4.92 ± 0.1 mmol/L vs 5.80 ± 0.3 mmol/L, p=0.011) and high intake of polyunsaturated fatty acid:saturated fatty acid ratio (≥0.8/day) (4.83 ± 0.1 mmol/L vs 5.93 ± 0.4 mmol/L, p=0.006). Moreover, the carriers of GG genotype with high polyunsaturated fatty acid intake (≥6% of TE/day) had significantly lower HOMA-IR (1.5 ± 0.3 vs 3.0 ± 0.7, p=0.026) and fasting insulin levels (6.8 ± 1.6 µU/mL vs 11.4 ± 2.1 µU/mL, p=0.036). These effects were not found in the noncarriers (AA). In conclusion, G allele carriers of ADRB2 rs1042713 were associated with increased odds of insulin resistance. Obese individuals carrying G allele were compromised with higher blood lipid levels. Although it is premature to report gene-diet interaction on the regulation of glucose and insulin levels in Malaysians, we suggest that higher quantity of PUFA-rich food sources in regular diet may benefit overweight and obese Malaysian adults metabolically. Large-scale studies are required to replicate and confirm the current findings in the Malaysian population.