The effectiveness of dietary workplace interventions: a systematic review of systematic reviews

Objective To summarise findings of systematic reviews that distinctively report dietary intervention components and their effects on diet-, health- and economic-related outcomes in the workplace setting. Design MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were searched in December 2014 and the search was updated in August 2017. Results The search identified 1137 titles, of which nineteen systematic reviews from the initial search and two systematic reviews from the updated search met the inclusion criteria (twenty-one systematic reviews, published in twenty-two papers). Most systematic reviews were of moderate quality and focused on dietary behaviour change outcomes and some health-related biomarkers. Evidence was strongest for interventions to increase fruit and vegetable intake, reduce fat intake, aid weight loss and reduce cholesterol. Few reported workplace-related and evaluation outcomes. Conclusions These findings suggest that workplace dietary interventions can positively influence diet and health outcomes. Suggestions for effective interventions components have been made.