Table 2 Inclusion criteria
From: Whole systems approaches to obesity and other complex public health challenges: a systematic review
Inclusion criteria | Include | Exclude |
|---|---|---|
Population | Any population where a WSA has been used, at local, regional, national and international level | Â |
Intervention | WSAs, defined as those that:  • Consider, in concert, the multifactorial drivers of overweight and obesity, as outlined by Foresight [1], public health or the social determinants of health [13];  • Involve transformative co-ordinated action (including policies, strategies, practices) across a broad range of disciplines and stakeholders, including partners outside traditional health sectors;  • Operate across all levels of governance, including the local level so that such approaches are reinforced and sustained, and  • Identify and target opportunities throughout the life course (from infancy to old age) |  • Multiagency partnership working across sectors e.g. health & social care, but not at more than one level; case management initiatives focused on individuals or individual families;  • Studies which looked at only one part of a WSA (i.e. one specific intervention delivered as part of a wider approach). |
Comparator interventions | Any or none | Â |
Outcomes | Review questions 1 and 2:  • Health outcomes, e.g. weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), type 2 diabetes, diet and nutrition, physical activity, psychological well-being & quality of life; co-morbidities related to obesity, reductions in health inequalities, reductions in premature morbidity and mortality, cardiovascular disease and obesity-related cancers.  • Organisational outcomes e.g. cross-sector collaboration; new partnerships; environmental changes; resource allocation; leadership etc.  • Process outcomes, e.g. what each project aimed to achieve and barriers and facilitating factors associated with achieving or not achieving those aims. Outcomes may be at individual, local, regional or national/ federal/ principality level. | |
Review question 3 Process and implementation outcomes e.g. training, recruitment, sustainability, people’s views on barriers and facilitators to implementation of WSAs. | ||
Review question 4: Cost, cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit or cost-utility. | ||
 Study designs | Review questions 1 and 2: primary research or evaluation studies. These may be randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or non-RCTs, natural experiments, before and after studies, or mixed methods evaluations (including case study approaches). Review question 3: process evaluations (qualitative or mixed method studies). Review question 4: cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit or cost-utility studies. | |