Nutrition Education and Body Mass Index in Grades K-12: A Systematic Review.

Background: Overweight and obese body mass index (BMI) status affects an increasing number of children in the United States. The school setting has been identified as a focus area to implement obesity prevention programs.

Methods: A database search of PubMed, Education Search Complete, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) was conducted for peer-reviewed articles published between January 2005 and December 2015 pertaining to programs offered in the school setting to grades K-12 in the United States with a nutrition education component and measured BMI percentile or BMI z-score as an outcome.