School-Based Interventions to Prevent Overweight in Latin America: A Scoping Review and Policy Analysis.

ABSTRACT: Overweight, including its severe form obesity, among children and adolescents has risen rapidly in Latin America. Schools play a critical role in addressing this growing public health challenge, as they offer a structured setting to implement preventive interventions targeting nutrition literacy, physical activity, and the food environment. The aim of this article is to describe the effectiveness of school-based interventions for preventing overweight in Latin America and whether existing policies, programs and other initiatives in the region align with the best available evidence. Among the 27 interventions included, most were conducted in Chile (41%), used a pre-post design (41%), adopted a preventive approach (85%), and reported positive effects (52%). Effective interventions included a

SUBMITTER: Morales-Juarez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12608608 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature