Poor eating habits are common during young adulthood and influence chronic disease morbidity. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness of interventions aiming to improve dietary intake among young adults and, identifies which behaviour change techniques (BCTs) are most effective. Six electronic databases were searched for RCTs published until October 2018, and evaluating behavioural interventions assessing change in dietary intake in young adults (17–35 years). Of the 18,779 articles identified, 54 were included. Forty studies focused on fruit and/or vegetable intake, of which 63% showed a significant between-group difference in favour of the intervention group. Meta-analysis (n = 17) demonstrated a significant increase in fruit and vegetable intake of +68.6 g/day after three months of intervention and +65.8 g/day for interventions >3 months when compared to control. A meta-analysis (n = 5) on total energy intake found no significant differences between groups. The BCTs with the highest effectiveness ratio were habit formation (100%), salience of consequences (83%) and adding objects to the environment (70%). The review highlights the potential of behavioural interventions to improve young adults’ fruit and vegetable intake but was less convincing for other dietary outcomes. Due to the lack of studies including each BCT, the BCTs imperative to success could not be identified.

This systematic review examines literature regarding the relationship between workplace psychosocial factors and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Musculoskeletal disorders are the leading cause of work disability, resulting in billions of dollars of financial losses. Evidence suggests that workplace psychosocial factors can lead to the development and progression of MSDs. A data search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Scopus, and CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) from August 2009 to May 2020 inclusive. Other eligibility criteria included studies published in English, conducted on adults within a workplace setting, conducted in developed economies, and were stability-control longitudinal observational studies. Studies were independently screened for eligibility, using COVIDENCE (software for managing and streamlining systematic reviews) and assessed for quality by multiple authors, using the JBI Evidence synthesis tool. From 6,812 studies, 47 articles were included in the final analysis. The most common MSDs investigated were lower back pain, neck and shoulder pain, and upper extremity symptoms and disorders. Included articles identified that psychosocial workplace factors of support, collaboration, job control, and job demands were statistically significantly associated with risk and progression of MSDs. Review of the articles included in this article supports the theory that MSDs have a multifactorial, complex etiology that includes psychosocial factors. Interventions to enhance psychosocial work environment provide opportunities to reduce the risk of MSDs.

Background: Young adulthood has become synonymous with the development of poor lifestyle behaviours associated with an increased risk of preventable chronic disease in later years. Interventions aiming to improve health behaviours may be more engaging and effective if they are targeted to males or females than interventions with a gender-neutral approach. This review will examine the outcome effectiveness of gender-targeted and gender-neutral interventions targeting nutrition, physical activity or overweight/obesity in young adults (17–35 years). Methods: Six electronic databases were searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published up to December 2019 that evaluated nutrition, physical activity and/or overweight/obesity interventions in young adults (17–35 years). An effective intervention was one where the change in one or more primary outcome was positive and statistically significantly different from baseline, compared with control, or if no control comparator, compared with another active intervention. Effectiveness of outcomes was compared between gender-targeted and gender-neutral studies. Results: In total 21,582 manuscripts were identified and 107 RCTs were included; 30 gender-targeted studies (28%) and 77 gender-neutral (72%). Most gender-targeted studies were female targeted (n = 22, 73%). Primary outcome/s were adiposity (n = 36, 34%), nutrition (n = 29, 27%), physical activity (n = 28, 26%), or a combination of (n = 14, 14%). A greater proportion of gender-targeted than gender-neutral studies were effective in improving nutrition (n = 6, 100% and n = 17, 74% of studies respectively) and physical activity outcomes (n = 6, 86% and n = 14, 67% respectively), where as a greater proportion of gender-neutral studies were effective in improving adiposity outcomes (n = 13, 59% and n = 5, 36% respectively). None of these differences were statistically significant. Meta-analyses for weight found no significant differences between gender-targeted and gender-neutral studies for weight loss or weight gain prevention studies. Meta-analysis for fruit and vegetable intake demonstrated a significantly greater increase in intervention participants in gender-targeted studies of +158 g/day for > 3 months. Conclusions: Although differences in outcome effectiveness were identified between gender-targeted and gender-neutral studies, these were not significantly different. This is likely due to an insufficient number of studies to detect a difference. The meta-analysis for fruit and vegetable intake findings should be interpreted with caution due to including only two gender-targeted studies. The findings collectively are suggestive of a potential difference requiring further investigation. To truly determine the effectiveness of gender-targeted interventions, well-designed RCTs comparing gender-targeted interventions with gender-neutral and control are needed. Registration: This systematic review is a secondary analysis of studies included in a systematic review examining the effectiveness of interventions targeting nutrition, physical activity, or overweight/obesity in young adults, for which a predefined protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42017075795).

Migraine is the third most common condition worldwide and is responsible for a major clinical and economic burden. The current pilot trial investigated whether ketogenic diet therapy (KDT) is superior to an evidence-informed healthy “anti-headache” dietary pattern (AHD) in improving migraine frequency, severity and duration. A 12-week randomised controlled crossover trial consisting of the two dietary intervention periods was undertaken. Eligible participants were those with a history of migraines and who had regularly experienced episodes of moderate or mildly intense headache in the previous 4 weeks. Migraine frequency, duration and severity were assessed via self-report in the Migraine Buddy© app. Participants were asked to measure urinary ketones and side effects throughout the KDT. Twenty-six participants were enrolled, and 16 participants completed all sessions. Eleven participants completed a symptom checklist; all reported side-effects during KDT, with the most frequently reported side effect being fatigue (n = 11). All completers experienced migraine during AHD, with 14/16 experiencing migraine during KDT. Differences in migraine frequency, severity or duration between dietary intervention groups were not statistically significant. However, a clinically important trend toward lower migraine duration on KDT was noted. Further research in this area is warranted, with strategies to lower participant burden and promote adherence and retention.

The workplace has been highlighted as a potential setting to deliver health promotion programs to target modifiable health behaviors that contribute to chronic disease. This review evaluated the effectiveness of interventions implemented within the workplace that targeted either smoking, nutrition, alcohol, physical activity, and/or overweight and obesity in men. A review protocol was prospectively registered through PROSPERO (CRD42021293398). Five electronic bibliographic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials conducted in the workplace assessing chronic disease risk factors in men from January 2010 to August 2021. Eleven studies were included, reporting on overweight and obesity n = 8, physical activity n = 7, nutrition n = 4, alcohol n = 3, smoking n = 3, with eight studies assessing multiple outcomes. Results were mixed. Narrative synthesis highlighted studies reporting improvements to snacking frequency, sugar sweetened beverage consumption, and physical activity (METs and Vo2 max). Meta-analysis highlighted pooled mean decrease in body weight of −0.28 kg up to 3 months; −1.38 kg for >3 months, and pooled mean decrease in body mass index 0.06 kg/m² up to 3 months; −0.27 kg/m² for >3 months. Despite the encouraging direction of the relationship, results were not statistically significant ( p > .05). Findings underscore the potential of workplace health promotion programs targeting certain chronic disease risk factors in men; however, future research should consider long-term study designs to assess the efficacy of workplace health programs as a solution to the growing burden of global disease.

Background: Workplaces are an important setting to deliver programs to reduce risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). To help decision makers understand the most current and relevant evidence regarding effectiveness of workplace programs, we conducted an umbrella review to present a comprehensive synthesis of the large volume of literature. Methods: Systematic reviews of workplace interventions targeting primary risk factors for NCDs—unhealthy diet, insufficient physical activity, overweight/obesity, tobacco use, and/or excessive alcohol use—published since 2010 were sourced. For each risk factor, reviews were categorized by intervention type and quality. The most recent, high-quality review was included for each intervention type. Evidence for the effectiveness of each intervention type was then broadly classified based on the review summary findings. Results: Twenty-one reviews were included. Most reviews focused on diet (n = 5), physical activity (n = 7), or obesity (n = 9) interventions, with fewer targeting alcohol (n = 2) or tobacco (n = 2) use. Reviews of interventions focusing on individual behavior (such as education or counseling) were most common. Across diet, obesity, physical activity, and tobacco use, multicomponent interventions were consistently likely to be classified as “likely effective.” Motivational interviewing and broad health promotion interventions were identified as “promising” for alcohol use. Conclusion: This umbrella review identified that multicomponent workplace interventions were effective to reduce NCD risk factors. There is a gap around interventions targeting alcohol use as most syntheses lacked enough studies to draw conclusions about effectiveness. Exploring the impact of interventions that utilize policy and/or environmental strategies is a critical gap for future research.