Nutrition-Related Policy and Environmental Strategies to Prevent Obesity in Rural Communities: A Systematic Review of the Literature, 2002-2013

Five-hundred-ninety-seven articles were identified through searching PubMed, CINHAL, PAIS, and the Cochrane Review. An additional 106 articles were identified through recommendations from the NOPREN Rural Food Access Working Group. After removing 40 duplicates, 663 articles remained to be screened; of these, 561 did not meet the inclusion criteria. The entire text of 102 articles was assessed. Sixty-six articles were removed for one of the following reasons: 1) focused on individual behavior change, 2) not in the United States or Canada, 3) urban and rural settings without designating rural-specific findings, or 4) observational studies not linked to an intervention. A total of 33 articles were included in the review.

Figure. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) flow diagram for study inclusion is a systematic review of nutrition-related policy and environmental strategies for obesity prevention applied in rural communities. Abbreviations: CINAHL, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature; PAIS, Public Affairs Information Service; NOPREN, Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network.

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