Table 2 The monitoring and evaluation domain of good practice characteristics for interventions and policies aiming at dietary behavior and physical activity change

Costs and funding

Costs in relation to obtained general health benefits (including population health changes, morbidity, quality of life, etc.)

Systematic reviews [111-113]; Stakeholders’ documents [46,76,114].

Costs related to behavior change (e.g., costs of an hour of PA gained per person)

Systematic reviews [39,51,95,107,111,112,115]; Stakeholders’ documents [46,76,114]; Position reviews [116].

Total financial costs of interventions/policies (total budget per participant)

Systematic reviews [53,95,101,111,112,115,117]; Stakeholders’ documents [45]; Position reviews [8,48,60,78];

Outcomes

Outcomes measured with valid, reliable, and sensitive tools

Systematic reviews: Indicated in all included systematic reviews; Stakeholders’ documents [14,44,62].

Effects specified as clinically significant (e.g., moving from sedentary to physically active)

Systematic reviews [53,57,67,96,113,117]; Stakeholders’ documents [10,14,45]; Position reviews [47,79,116].

Effects on public health-relevant secondary outcomes (proximal, e.g., weight loss, and distal, e.g., heart disease morbidity)

Systematic reviews [55,59,74,81,111]; Stakeholders’ documents [14,45,46,118,119];

Negative consequences (or risks) evaluated

Systematic reviews [59,94,101,111,117,120]; Stakeholders’ documents [14,45,106,119]; Position reviews: [8,77,78].

Measured outcomes include physiological risk factor indices (e.g., BMI, cholesterol)

Systematic reviews [32,68,99,104,121].

Effects’ evaluation: time and effect size

Efficiency established and reported (significant effects established in prior trials)

Systematic reviews Indicated in all included systematic reviews; Stakeholders’ documents [44,114,119]; Position reviews [107].

Sustainable effects (mid-term effects [>6 months] and long term effects [>12 months])

Systematic reviews [53,55,59,93-95,99,100,102,104,120,122]; Stakeholders’ documents [10,14,106,118,119]; Position reviews [8,47,86].

Effect sizes (besides significant effects)

Systematic reviews [23,28,31,36,75,92,99,122]; Stakeholders’ documents [44,45,63,63 separate for intervention and policies]; Position reviews [60,88].

Reach

Reach (the strategy is likely to involve a large percentage of the target population; reaching entire target population)

Systematic reviews [53,59,94,100,107,112,117,123]; Stakeholders’ documents [10,44,63,83,118,119]; Position reviews [8,26,48,86].

Inclusiveness: health, age, and gender contexts (individuals with low mobility or comorbidities participate; including people of different age within target group)

Systematic reviews [53,59,94,100,107,112,117,123]; Stakeholders’ documents [14,44,45,46,62,63,63 (separate entries for intervention and policies), 106]; Position reviews [47,87].

Cultural competence and social inclusion of interventions/policies (accounts for cultural/minority issues in: recruitment processes, content, setting; familiarity with health practices in respective social/cultural groups)

Systematic reviews [27,29,40,53,59,94,100,101,109,112,117,123]; Stakeholders’ documents [43,44,76,83,119,124]; Position reviews [49,61].

Participation and generalizability of evaluation

Generalizability of effects evaluated (effects observed among participants with different characteristics; effects at population level)

Systematic reviews [53,67,68,94]; Stakeholders’ documents [118,119].

Participation rates reported (across stages of evaluation)

Systematic reviews [39,53,96,117,120]; Stakeholders’ documents [14,44,118,119]; Position reviews [8].

Underlying processes and active components

Active components identified

Systematic reviews [6,23,29,38,111]; Position reviews [88].

Ongoing monitoring and measurement of delivery and monitoring of materials

Systematic reviews [59,96,120]; Stakeholders’ documents [14,46,63,85].