Although numerous studies have been undertaken, there is a noticeable inconsistency of the findings of the available studies and this is confounded by serious methodological issues within the included studies. The body of evidence in this review does not support the hypothesis that multi-component community wide interventions effectively increase population levels of physical activity. There is a clear need for well-designed intervention studies and such studies should focus on the quality of the measurement of physical activity, the frequency of measurement and the allocation to intervention and control communities.
Impact evaluation of a Dutch community intervention to improve health-related behaviour in deprived neighbourhoods.
This study investigates the impact of a 2-year community intervention on health-related behaviour among adults aged 18-65 years living in deprived neighbourhoods in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The intervention is evaluated in a community intervention trial with a quasi-experimental design in a longitudinal cohort survey (n=1926 and attrition rate: 31%) using postal questionnaires. In the 2-year implementation phase, more than 40 intervention activities were planned and delivered by intersectoral neighbourhood coalitions. Outcome measures were fruit consumption, vegetable consumption, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and intermediate outcomes of behaviour (i.e. attitudes, self-efficacy, awareness, knowledge and stages of change). The intervention demonstrated no evidence for an impact on vegetable consumption, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption and weak evidence for a small impact on (intermediate) outcomes of fruit consumption.