OBJECTIVE: To descriptively compare and contrast intervention techniques for preschool children with features of developmental language disorder (outcome: oral vocabulary) and speech sound disorder (outcome: speech comprehensibility) and analyse them in relation to effectiveness and theory.
METHODS: This is a systematic review with narrative synthesis. The process was supported by an expert steering group consisting of relevant professionals and people with lived experience.
METHODS: Ovid Emcare, MEDLINE Complete, CINAHL, APA PsycINFO, ERIC, and Communication Source from January 2012 were searched. Relevant studies were obtained from an initial published review (up to January 2012).
METHODS: Interventions for preschool children (80% aged 2:0-5:11 years) with idiopathic speech or language needs; outcomes relating to either oral vocabulary or speech comprehensibility.
METHODS: Searches were conducted on 27 January 2023. Two independent researchers screened at abstract and full-text levels. Data regarding intervention content (eg, techniques) and format/delivery (eg, dosage, location) were extracted. Data were synthesised narratively according to the methods of Campbell et al.
RESULTS: 24 studies were included: 18 for oral vocabulary and 6 for speech comprehensibility. There were 11 randomised controlled trials, 2 cohort studies and 11 case series. Similarities included a focus on input-related techniques and similar therapy activities. Speech studies were more likely to be professional-led and clinic-led, rather than at home and through a parent. Analysis was restricted by heterogeneity in study design and terminology, as well as gaps within intervention reporting. Information deemed important to the expert steering group was missing.
CONCLUSIONS: Similarities and differences between intervention techniques for oral vocabulary and speech comprehensibility have been identified and synthesised. However, analysis of effectiveness was limited due to issues with study design and heterogeneity within studies. This has implications for the progression of the evidence base within the field.
UNASSIGNED: CRD42022373931.

BACKGROUND: Parent-mediated interventions are therapeutic approaches that use parent training to enable parents to provide primary support and intervention to their child through the development of necessary skills, knowledge, and resources.Parent-mediated interventions can be broadly divided into two stages: (1) Clinicians educating, training and coaching parents in the implementation of an intervention and relevant information regarding their child\'s condition and (2) Parent(s) mediating and implementing the intervention based on the coaching and education received. These interventions can act as the primary intervention for children or supplement clinical interventions. This review will include both stages of the implementation process as well as both primary and supplementary interventions. Outcomes of parent-mediated interventions include long-term symptom reduction, improved prognosis for a wide range of behavioural and brain functions and enhanced parent-child dyadic social communication.
METHODS: This systematic review aims to synthesise existing evidence and identify the characteristics of effective parent-mediated intervention for parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders residing in rural areas. Systematic searches of CINAHL, PsycINFO, ProQuest allied health and nursing database, Ebscohost Psych and Behavioural database and SocINDEX were conducted twice with the latest completed on 5 March 2024 using preidentified search terms. Citations will be imported into EndNote V.20.6 (Clarivate Analytics, Pennsylvania, USA) to organise and de-duplicate and then Covidence to complete screening and extraction. The articles will be screened and reviewed following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines for systematic reviews of Mixed methods. The JBI appraisal tools for systematic reviews will be used to assess the trustworthiness, relevance and results of qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies. The scope of the literature analysed will include articles published between 2013 and 2024 in English. Literature was limited to the last 10 years to ensure the relevance of results as the intention is to report on current evidence. The start date of the study was March 2023 and the planned completion date is October 2024.
BACKGROUND: This study will neither involve human nor animal subjects and does not require ethics approval. Results will be disseminated to relevant groups in peer-reviewed journal(s) and at relevant children and parent health conferences or rural conferences. The key outcomes will also be shared on social media to support access for non-research audiences.

BACKGROUND: Unhealthy diets pose a significant public health risk among European children, contributing to the increasing prevalence of overweight and non-communicable diseases. Children spend a substantial amount of time at school daily, including lunchtime, so the school setting becomes crucial for promoting healthy diets and lifestyle habits. While there is a large body of literature on the impact of school food policies on health and non-health outcomes, it is essential to identify which policies are effective and can be recommended for implementation to ensure the efficient use of resources. This article presents a protocol for a scoping review that aims to map the current published literature on the effects of school food policies on health outcomes, acceptance and affordability in secondary school children in Europe. Moreover, the scoping review will map the measurements used to assess health outcomes, acceptance and affordability.
METHODS: The scoping review protocol and review follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Review. To identify eligible studies, we will search MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Web of Science. The reference lists of the included articles will be checked for additional studies. In addition, country-specific ministry reports from Member States of the European Union, the UK, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland will be identified. The WHO and European Commission websites will also be searched for relevant reports. The scoping review will include literature published until 20 September 2023. No restrictions to study design and language will be applied. Screening and data extraction will be carried out independently by three reviewers. Disagreements will be resolved by discussion. A pretested data charting table will be used to extract key information. Findings will be presented in tabular and visualised summaries and a narrative summary.
BACKGROUND: This scoping review does not require ethical approval. Our dissemination strategy comprises peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and recommendations to policy-makers.

BACKGROUND: Mid-day meal programmes (MDM) were introduced in India to improve school attendance, nutritional status and educational outcomes of school children. Numerous primary studies have examined the impact of the MDM programmes on both nutritional and educational outcomes in various settings across the country. However, synthesising the findings from these studies has been challenging. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic review to assess the effects of MDM programmes on the nutritional and academic outcomes of school children in India.
METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted, and relevant studies published between 1997 and 2022 were included. Two reviewers independently conducted study selection, data extraction and risk of bias assessment. The results were synthesised descriptively.
RESULTS: The systematic review included 31 studies. Among them, 16 studies focused on academic outcomes, while 18 studies reported children\'s nutritional status. Studies on MDM Scheme (MDMS) in children show mixed results on nutritional outcomes. While some studies show marginal improvements in height and weight measurements, others show no significant improvement. Regular MDMS access improves enrollment, attendance and retention rates for children, with lower dropout rates and higher academic achievement. However, its impact on academic performance remains unclear.
CONCLUSIONS: The MDM programme in India was effective in improving the academic achievement and a few nutritional outcomes of school children, underscoring the importance of sustaining MDM programmes in India.
UNASSIGNED: The review was prospectively registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023391776). Available from: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42023391776.

OBJECTIVE: Community-based arts interventions have the potential to support contextually relevant nurturing care programmes and policies that adapt to different settings. Understanding the distinctive features of using the arts in local, culturally specific ways in low/middle-income countries (LMICs); how this varies by context; and gaining a better understanding of the perspectives on desirable outcomes for communities is important evidence that this review generates.
METHODS: We conducted a realist review of papers that covered outcomes related to child health or development (0-5 years) AND arts-based approaches AND community-based, participatory approaches AND based in LMICs using a range of databases and other networks. A coding framework was developed covering context, intervention, outcomes, mechanisms, study, sustainability, transferability and scalability.
RESULTS: The included papers reported 18 unique interventions. Interventions covered 14 countries, with evidence lacking for South America, Arab countries and parts of Africa. Lead authors came from mostly clinical science-based disciplines and from institutions in a different country to the country/countries studied. Intended outcomes from interventions included clinical, health systems/organisation, changes in practices/behaviours/knowledge/attitudes, and wider social and educational goals. We identified three demi-regularities (semi-predictable patterns or pathways of programme functioning): participatory design based on valuing different sources of expertise; dynamic adaptation of intervention to context; and community participation in arts-based approaches.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that arts-based, nurturing care interventions have greater potential when they include local knowledge, embed into existing infrastructures and there is a clear plan for ongoing resourcing of the intervention. Studies with better documentation of the lessons learnt, regarding the intervention delivery process and the power dynamics involved, are needed to better understand what works, for whom and in which contexts.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the reporting and methodological quality of early-life policy intervention papers that applied difference-in-differences (DiD) analysis.
METHODS: Systematic review.
METHODS: Papers applying DiD of early-life policy interventions in high-income countries as identified by searching Medline, Embase and Scopus databases up to December, 2022.
METHODS: Studies evaluating policy interventions targeting expectant mothers, infants or children up to two years old and conducted in high income countries were included. We focused on seven critical conditions of DiD as proposed in a comprehensive checklist: data requirements, parallel trends, no-anticipation, standard statistical assumptions, common shocks, group composition and spillover.
RESULTS: The DiD included studies (n=19) evaluating early-life policy interventions in childhood development (n=4), healthcare utilisation and providers (n=4), nutrition programmes (n=3) and economic policies such as prenatal care expansion (n=8). Although none of the included studies met all critical conditions, the most reported and adhered to critical conditions were data requirements (n=18), standard statistical assumptions (n=11) and the parallel trends assumption (n=9). No-anticipation and spillover were explicitly reported and adhered to in two studies and one study, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights current deficiencies in the reporting and methodological quality of studies using DiD to evaluate early-life policy interventions. As the validity of study conclusions and consequent implications for policy depend on the extent to which critical conditions are met, this shortcoming is concerning. We recommend that researchers use the described checklist to improve the transparency and validity of their evaluations. The checklist should be further refined by adding order of importance or knock-out criteria and may also help facilitate uniform terminology. This will hopefully encourage reliable DiD evaluations and thus contribute to better policies relating to expectant mothers, infants and children.

BACKGROUND: Preconception care is the provision of behavioural, social or biomedical interventions to women and couples prior to conception. To date, preconception research has primarily focused on maternal health, despite the male partner\'s contribution before birth to both short-term and long-term child outcomes. The objectives of the reviews are: (1) to identify, consolidate and analyse the literature on paternal preconception health on pregnancy and intrapartum outcomes, and (2) to identify, consolidate and analyse the literature on paternal preconception health on postpartum and early childhood outcomes.
METHODS: A scoping review will be conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, Scopus and CINAHL databases will be searched for articles published in English. Two independent reviewers will screen titles and abstracts and then full text using Covidence, with conflicts resolved by a third reviewer. Data extraction will be performed using Covidence.
BACKGROUND: Ethics approval is not required for this scoping review. Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals as well as presented at relevant national and international conferences and meetings.

OBJECTIVE: Childhood obesity rates in the UK are high. The early years of childhood are critical for establishing healthy behaviours and offer interventional opportunities. We aimed to identify studies evaluating the impact of UK-based obesity interventions in early childhood.
METHODS: Systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.
METHODS: Nine databases were searched in March 2023.
METHODS: We included UK-based obesity intervention studies delivered to children aged 6 months to 5 years that had diet and/or physical activity components and reported anthropometric outcomes. The primary outcome of interest was z-score Body Mass Index (zBMI) change (within and between subjects). Studies evaluating the effects of breastfeeding interventions were not included as obesity prevention interventions, given that best-practice formula feeding is also likely to encourage healthy growth. The publication date for studies was limited to the previous 12 years (2011-23), as earlier reviews found few evaluations of interventions in the UK.
METHODS: The reviewers worked independently using standardised approach to search, screen and code the included studies. Risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane tools (ROB 2 or ROBINS-I).
RESULTS: Six trials (five studies) were identified, including two randomised controlled trials (RCT), one cluster randomised trial (CRT), two feasibility CRTs and one impact assessment. The total number of participants was 566. Three trials focused on disadvantaged families and two included high-risk children categorised as having overweight or obesity. Compared with baseline, five interventions reported reductions in zBMI, three of which were statistically significant (p<0.05). Compared with control, five interventions showed zBMI reductions, one of which was significant. Only two trials were followed up beyond 12 months. All studies were found to have a high risk of bias. Meta-analysis was not possible due to the heterogeneity of studies.
CONCLUSIONS: UK evidence was limited but some interventions showed promising results in promoting healthy growth. As part of a programme of policies, interventions in the early years may have an important role in reducing the risk of childhood obesity.
UNASSIGNED: CRD42021290676.

OBJECTIVE: Speech sound disorder (SSD) describes a \'persistent difficulty with speech sound production that interferes with speech intelligibility or prevents verbal communication\'. There is a need to establish which care pathways are most effective and efficient for children with SSD. Comparison of care pathways requires clearly defined, evidence-based, interventions and agreement on how to measure the outcomes. At present, no definitive list of assessments, interventions or outcomes exists. The objective of this umbrella review paper is to provide a rigorous and detailed list of assessments, interventions and outcomes which target SSD in children.
METHODS: In December 2022, a systematic search of Ovid Medline, OVID Embase, CINAHL, PsycInfo and Cochrane and a number of grey literature platforms were undertaken. 18 reviews were included, and subsequently 415 primary research articles were assessed for data related to assessments, interventions or outcomes. The AMSTAR (Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews) framework was used to assess the quality of the retained reviews.
METHODS: Reviews were retained which took place in any setting.
METHODS: The population is children of any age with a diagnosis of SSD of unknown origin.
METHODS: Reviews reporting outcomes, assessment and interventions for children with SSD.
RESULTS: Extraction and analysis identified 37 assessments, 46 interventions and 30 outcome measures used in research reporting of SSD. Not all of the listed outcomes were linked to specific outcome measurement tools, but these were measurable through the use of one or more of the assessments extracted from the retained reviews.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this review will be used to develop a Core Outcome Set for children with SSD. The findings are part of a rigorous process essential for advancing healthcare research and practice in the specific area of speech and language therapy for children with SSD.
UNASSIGNED: CRD42022316284.

BACKGROUND: The last 3 years have witnessed global health challenges, ranging from the pandemics of COVID-19 and mpox (monkeypox) to the Ebola epidemic in Uganda. Public health surveillance is critical for preventing these outbreaks, yet surveillance systems in resource-constrained contexts struggle to provide timely disease reporting. Although community health workers (CHWs) support health systems in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), very little has been written about their role in supporting public health surveillance. This review identified the roles, impacts and challenges CHWs face in public health surveillance in 25 LMICs.
METHODS: We conducted a scoping review guided by Arksey and O\'Malley\'s framework. We exported 1,156 peer-reviewed records from Embase, Global Health and PubMed databases. After multiple screenings, 29 articles were included in the final review.
RESULTS: CHWs significantly contribute to public health surveillance in LMICs including through contact tracing and patient visitation to control major infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola, neglected tropical diseases and COVID-19. Their public health surveillance roles typically fall into four main categories including community engagement; data gathering; screening, testing and treating; and health education and promotion. The use of CHWs in public health surveillance in LMICs has been impactful and often involves incorporation of various technologies leading to improved epidemic control and disease reporting. Nonetheless, use of CHWs can come with four main challenges including lack of education and training, lack of financial and other resources, logistical and infrastructural challenges as well as community engagement challenges.
CONCLUSIONS: CHWs are important stakeholders in surveillance because they are closer to communities than other healthcare workers. Further integration and training of CHWs in public health surveillance would improve public health surveillance because CHWs can provide health data on \'hard-to-reach\' populations. CHWs\' work in public health surveillance would also be greatly enhanced by infrastructural investments.