A systematic literature review of the effectiveness of healthy lifestyle interventions to reduce alcohol consumption, increase physical activity and healthy eating and reduce overweight and obesity

Project Status
Completed

Chief Investigator
Mark Harris

Project coordinator
Freddy Sitas

Project team
Catherine Spooner, Kaniz Fatema, Margo Barr, Ben Harris-Roxas, Abela Mahimbo

The Evidence Check was commissioned by the SAX institute on behalf of the NSW Cancer Institute to answer the following

1. What primary prevention interventions have been effective at increasing adult’s adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviours including: 

  • Reducing alcohol consumption 
  • Increasing physical activity 
  • Increasing healthy eating 
  • Reducing overweight and obesity

2. Of the interventions identified in question 1 which of these demonstrate effectiveness in achieving participant outcomes in terms of meeting the recommended guidelines (for both maintenance of health and prevention of cancer, as defined above).

3. Are there community-level interventions that are promising, but may not be fully evaluated, in reducing alcohol consumption, increasing physical activity, increasing healthy eating and/or reducing overweight and obesity?

This review is specifically focused on what is feasible at a state level and within the remit of the Cancer Institute NSW healthy lifestyles portfolio

Results: We reviewed 99 articles, and presented our results to the Cancer Institute NSW on 10 October 2019.  We are also presenting these results to the Ministry of Health on 23 Oct 2019.  Results from this survey will inform the NSW Healthy lifestyles Roadmap 2018-2013.

References

Harris MF, Fatema K, Spooner C, Harris-Roxas B, Mahimbo A, Barr M, Sitas F. Review of effectiveness of certain healthy lifestyle interventions to reduce alcohol consumption, increase levels of physical activity and healthy eating and reduce overweight and obesity (2014-2019). An Evidence Check rapid review brokered by the Sax Institute (www.saxinstitute.org.au) for the Cancer Institute NSW, 2019