title: School-based obesity prevention interventions: practicalities and considerations.
abstract: Pediatric obesity continues to be a major public health concern. Once established it is difficult to treat, therefore well-designed and evaluated prevention interventions are vitally important. Schools have an important role in the prevention of childhood obesity, however, their involvement can be limited by a number of constraints and barriers, which need to be considered when designing interventions. Members of the Prevention Stream of the Australasian Child and Adolescent Obesity Research Network have extensive experience in implementing and evaluating school-based obesity prevention initiatives. Based on their collective experience and evidence from implementation research, the aim of this paper was to highlight six areas to consider when designing, implementing and evaluating obesity prevention initiatives in schools. Further, this paper aimed to provide guidance for overcoming some of the challenges and barriers faced in school-based obesity prevention research. The six key areas discussed include: design and analysis; school-community engagement; planning and recruitment; evaluation; implementation; and feedback and sustainability.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Educational Research Institute, University of Wollongong, 2522, Australia. Electronic address: rachelj@uow.edu.au.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition, Faculty of Education & Arts, University of Newcastle, Callaghan Campus, 2038, Australia. Electronic address: David.Lubans@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Lubans
authors.affiliation: Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition, Faculty of Education & Arts, University of Newcastle, Callaghan Campus, 2038, Australia. Electronic address: Philip.Morgan@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Educational Research Institute, University of Wollongong, 2522, Australia. Electronic address: tokely@uow.edu.au.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Okely
authors.affiliation: Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia. Electronic address: Natalie.Parletta@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Parletta
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales 2308, Australia. Electronic address: Luke.Wolfenden@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wolfenden
authors.affiliation: Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program, McCaughey VicHealth Centre, Melbourne School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: andreams@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Silva-Sanigorski
authors.affiliation: Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program, McCaughey VicHealth Centre, Melbourne School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: lgibbs@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gibbs
authors.affiliation: Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program, McCaughey VicHealth Centre, Melbourne School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: ewaters@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Waters
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D006285:Health Planning; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011634:Public Health; D012572:School Health Services; D012574:Schools
keywords: Interventions; Obesity; Overweight; Prevention; School-based