title: Status report -- Identifying equity-focussed interventions to promote healthy weights.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We developed screening criteria to identify population health interventions with an equity focus for inclusion on the Public Health Agency of Canada's Canadian Best Practices Portal. We applied them to the area of "healthy weights," specifically, obesity prevention.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a review of the literature and obtained input from expert external reviewers on changes to midstream environments. Interventions had to identify outcomes for groups with an underlying social disadvantage. We included papers with a focus on equity and vulnerable populations, intervention and/or evaluation studies, social determinants of health and healthy weights or obesity prevention. We then appraised the shortlisted studies for quality of evidence to determine eligibility for inclusion as promising practices on the Canadian Best Practices Portal.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Few of the references reviewed passed the equity screening criteria (26 out of 2823 published papers reviewed, or 0.9%). Six (of the 26) interventions qualified as promising practices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ability of the equity screening criteria to distinguish midstream-level interventions for obesity prevention suggests that the criteria have potential to be applied to other public health topics. What is most important about our work is that the Portal, which is no longer being updated but is still accessible, was broadened to include interventions with a focus on equity.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Promotion Research, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, St. Paul's Hospital, Providence Health Care, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: C James
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Frankish
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Promotion Research, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kwan
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Promotion Research, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Diane E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.affiliation: Public Health Agency of Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jetha
mesh_terms: D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D000069576:Health Equity; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D056865:Ideal Body Weight; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D035862:Vulnerable Populations
keywords: best practices; equity; healthy weights; intervention studies; midstream environments; obesity; population health; social determinants of health; vulnerable populations