Evaluation of Social Impact Within Primary School Health Promotion: A Systematic Review.
Dianne Robertson, Julia Carins, Sharyn Rundle-Thiele and 1 others
PMID 35365879WHAT IT FOUND
School health promotion programs usually reported eating or activity outcomes, not broader social effects.
Few tried to capture social impact. Impact claims may rest on short-term behavior results.
Key findings
01Social impact was rarely measured: only 16 studies (29%) reported considering or attempting to measure it.
02The included interventions commonly focused on healthy eating (29, 52%) and physical activity (25, 45%).
03Many interventions were not informed by theory (27, 49%) and did not report a health promotion framework (34, 62%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The review included only English-language studies from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, so it may not represent other school systems or cultures. The included studies varied widely in outcome measures, design, sample size, and duration, preventing pooled conclusions about effectiveness or social impact. Many studies did not report stakeholder engagement or use theory, so it is hard to explain why any change occurred.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. Open access funding was enabled by Projekt DEAL.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this review as evidence that school health promotion programs create social impact. It describes how often impact was measured, not whether programs worked.