The Generating Excellent Nutrition in UK Schools (GENIUS) network: working towards a more health-promoting food and nutrition system in UK schools.

School food has a major influence on children's diet quality and has the potential to reduce diet inequalities and non-communicable disease risk. Funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership, we have established a UK school food system network. The overarching aim was to build a community to work towards a more health-promoting food and nutrition system in UK schools.

Development of a habit-based intervention to support healthy eating and physical activity behaviours for pregnant women with overweight or obesity: Healthy Habits in Pregnancy and Beyond (HHIPBe).

Background: The number of women entering pregnancy with overweight or obesity is increasing. This can increase the risk for excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) which is associated with health complications for mother and baby. There are limited evidence-based interventions within antenatal care settings to encourage healthy eating and physical activity behaviours and support women with managing GWG.

Preconception health and care policies, strategies and guidelines in the UK and Ireland: a scoping review.

Background: Preconception health has the potential to improve parental, pregnancy and infant outcomes. This scoping review aims to (1) provide an overview of the strategies, policies, guidelines, frameworks, and recommendations available in the UK and Ireland that address preconception health and care, identifying common approaches and health-influencing factors that are targeted; and (2) conduct an audit to explore the awareness and use of resources found in the scoping review amongst healthcare professionals, to validate and contextualise findings relevant to Northern Ireland.

Methods: Grey literature resources were identified through Google Advanced Search, NICE, OpenAire, ProQuest and relevant public health and government websites.

The effect of increased fruit and vegetable consumption on blood pressure and lipids: a pooled analysis of six randomised controlled fruit and vegetable intervention trials.

Background: Increasing fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption is associated with reduced cardiovascular disease risk in observational studies but with little evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The impact of concurrent pharmacological therapy is unknown.

Objective: To pool data from six RCTs to examine the effect of increasing FV intake on blood pressure (BP) and lipid profile, also exploring whether effects differed by medication use.

Text Messages With Financial Incentives for Men With Obesity: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Effective weight loss interventions are needed for men with obesity.

Objective: To determine whether an intervention that combined text messaging with financial incentives attained significant weight loss at the 12-month follow-up compared with the control group and whether an intervention of text messaging alone attained significant weight loss at the 12-month follow-up compared with the control group.

Design, Setting, And Participants: An assessor-blinded randomized clinical trial conducted in Belfast, Bristol, and Glasgow areas in the UK.

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a 12-month automated text message intervention for weight management in postpartum women with overweight or obesity: protocol for the Supporting MumS (SMS) multisite, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: The reproductive years can increase women's weight-related risk. Evidence for effective postpartum weight management interventions is lacking and engaging women during this life stage is challenging. Following a promising pilot evaluation of the Supporting MumS intervention, we assess if theory-based and bidirectional text messages to support diet and physical activity behaviour change for weight loss and weight loss maintenance, are effective and cost-effective for weight change in postpartum women with overweight or obesity, compared with an active control arm receiving text messages on child health and development.

Identifying the top 10 research priorities for the school food system in the UK: a priority setting exercise.

Introduction: The school food system varies widely between schools and across the UK. There is a need to understand evidence gaps in school food research to allow the development, implementation and evaluation of policies and interventions to support children's healthy eating at school. This study aimed to conduct a priority setting exercise to co-produce research priorities in relation to the UK school food system.

Exploring the world of food with families: perspectives of low-income families on factors influencing their food choices.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the social and environmental factors involved in the food decision-making processes of families living on lower incomes on the Island of Ireland.

Design: A qualitative design was employed for this study, using photovoice and creative mapping methods. Parents were requested to take photos and draw maps of their food environments.

The feasibility and acceptability of a rewards system based on food purchasing behaviour in secondary school cashless canteens: the Eat4Treats (E4T) cluster feasibility, non-randomised, controlled intervention study.

Background: Using rewards may be an effective method to positively influence children's eating behaviour but evidence to date is limited, particularly in older children. The cashless canteen systems in schools provides a unique opportunity to implement a food-based reward scheme but intervention development work and feasibility testing is needed. The overall aim of the E4T feasibility study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a rewards scheme based on the food purchasing behaviour of pupils in cashless canteens in secondary schools.

Using Online Photovoice to Explore Food Decisions of Families on Low Income: Lessons Learnt During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The method of photovoice has been previously used to effectively engage with socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and explore their eating behaviours. In this methodological article, we draw on our experiences from using photovoice through online interviews with families on low income about their food decisions. A purposive recruitment approach targeted parents of children 2-17 years old who lived on a tight budget across the island of Ireland.

Exploring Health Behaviours, Attitudes and Beliefs of Women and Men during the Preconception and Interconception Periods: A Cross-Sectional Study of Adults on the Island of Ireland.

Preconception health is increasingly seen as a key target for improving population health in the UK and Ireland, yet little is known about the attitudes and beliefs of adults regarding preconception care strategies. This online cross-sectional survey aimed to explore the health behaviours, attitudes and beliefs of adults of reproductive age in regard to preconception health and care. The survey was developed by reviewing the previous literature and engaging with those from the target group.

Capturing the whole-school food environment in primary schools.

Objective: The school food environment (SFE) is an ideal setting for encouraging healthy dietary behaviour. We aimed to develop an instrument to assess whole-SFE, test the instrument in the school setting and demonstrate its use to make food environment recommendations.

Design: SFE literature and UK school food guidance were searched to inform instrument items.

Preconception health and care policies, strategies and guidelines in the UK and Ireland: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: Preconception care can significantly improve maternal and infant outcomes, and thus optimise intergenerational health. The aims of this scoping review are to (1) provide an up-to-date summary of preconception health and care strategies, policies, guidelines, frameworks and recommendations across the UK and Ireland and (2) explore preconception health and care services and interventions in Northern Ireland as a case study.

Methods And Analysis: This scoping review of grey literature will be conducted as per the Scoping Review Methods Manual by the Joanna Briggs Institute and the Arksey-O'Malley framework for scoping studies, and reported in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews.

A peer support dietary change intervention for encouraging adoption and maintenance of the Mediterranean diet in a non-Mediterranean population (TEAM-MED): lessons learned and suggested improvements.

Peer support interventions for dietary change may offer cost-effective alternatives to interventions led by health professionals. This process evaluation of a trial to encourage the adoption and maintenance of a Mediterranean diet in a Northern European population at high CVD risk (TEAM-MED) aimed to investigate the feasibility of implementing a group-based peer support intervention for dietary change, positive elements of the intervention and aspects that could be improved. Data on training and support for the peer supporters; intervention fidelity and acceptability; acceptability of data collection processes for the trial and reasons for withdrawal from the trial were considered.

Investigating the feasibility and acceptability of using Instagram to engage post-graduate students in a mass communication social media-based health intervention, #WeeStepsToHealth.

Background: Instagram's popularity among young adults continues to rise, and previous work has identified diffusion of unhealthy messages and misinformation throughout the platform. However, we know little about how to use Instagram to promote health messages. This study aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of using Instagram to engage post-graduate students in a mass communication social media (SM)-based health intervention.

First-trimester glycaemic markers as predictors of gestational diabetes and its associated adverse outcomes: A prospective cohort study.

Objective: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with excessive fetal growth in later gestation. Recent data suggest accelerated growth may begin before 28 weeks' gestation when GDM is typically diagnosed. The identification of pregnancies at risk of early fetal growth would enable early intervention.

An online survey of dietary quality during complementary feeding; associations with maternal feeding self-efficacy and adherence to dietary recommendations.

Background: Parents are the gatekeepers of nutrition in early life and their feeding practices form children's dietary behaviours. Although maternal characteristics have been associated with certain feeding practices, their relationship with overall quality of complementary feeding diets has not been explored. This study aimed to: assess dietary quality in complementary feeding age; explore its association with maternal and child characteristics; and evaluate the association between complementary feeding practices and child weight.

PROtein enriched MEDiterranean diet to combat undernutrition and promote healthy neuroCOGnitive ageing in older adults: The PROMED-COG consortium project.

Dementia is a major public health challenge owing to its increasing prevalence and recognised impact on disability among older adults. Observational data indicate that weight loss is associated with increased dementia risk of 30%-40% and precedes a diagnosis of cognitive impairment or dementia by at least one decade. Although relatively little is known about the mechanisms of unintentional weight loss in dementia, this provides a window of opportunity to intervene with strategies to counteract undernutrition and delay, or prevent, the onset of dementia.

Evaluation of a Text Messaging Intervention to Promote Preconception Micronutrient Supplement Use: Feasibility Study Nested in the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative Study in South Africa.

Background: Social messaging strategies such as SMS text messaging and radio are promising avenues for health promotion and behavior change in low- to middle-income settings. However, evidence of their acceptability, feasibility, and impact in the context of young women's health and micronutrient deficiencies is lacking.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of an automated 2-way text messaging intervention nested in an ongoing preconception health trial, the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI; HeLTI Bukhali) in Soweto, South Africa.

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of text messages with or without endowment incentives for weight management in men with obesity (Game of Stones): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Obesity increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, mobility problems and some cancers, and its prevalence is rising. Men engage less than women in existing weight loss interventions. Game of Stones builds on a successful feasibility study and aims to find out if automated text messages with or without endowment incentives are effective and cost-effective for weight loss at 12 months compared to a waiting list comparator arm in men with obesity.

Culturally adapting the Mediterranean Diet pattern - a way of promoting more 'sustainable' dietary change?

Average diet quality is low in the UK and is socioeconomically patterned, contributing to the risk of non-communicable disease and poor health. Achieving meaningful dietary change in the long term is challenging, with intervention required on a number of different levels which reflect the multiple determinants of dietary choice. Dietary patterns have been identified which contribute positively to health outcomes; one of these is the Mediterranean diet (MD) which has been demonstrated to be associated with reduced non-communicable disease risk.

The effect of animal versus plant protein on muscle mass, muscle strength, physical performance and sarcopenia in adults: protocol for a systematic review.

Background: The evidence base for the role of dietary protein in maintaining good muscle health in older age is strong; however, the importance of protein source remains unclear. Plant proteins are generally of lower quality, with a less favourable amino acid profile and reduced bioavailability; therefore, it is possible that their therapeutic effects may be less than that of higher quality animal proteins. This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of plant and animal protein interventions on muscle health outcomes.

Parental perceptions of the food environment and their influence on food decisions among low-income families: a rapid review of qualitative evidence.

Background: The food environment within and surrounding homes influences family dietary habits with socio-economic areas at a nutritional disadvantage. Families' perception of the food environment and how it influences their food decisions is less clear. This rapid review aimed to synthesise qualitative evidence of parental perspectives of the food environment and their influence on food decisions among disadvantaged families.