Abstract
Introduction: Achieving a healthy balance of 24-hour movement behaviours – physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB), and sleep – represents a public health imperative to promote health among immigrants. Effective interventions that target the balance of movement behaviours over the 24-hour day must be evidence-based.
Purpose: To systematically review and assess the type (i.e., content and delivery) and effectiveness of interventions targeting movement behaviours among adult immigrants in immigrant-adopting countries.
Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (SR)s and Meta-Analyses and Cochrane processes guided this SR. Five databases were searched for movement interventions published until December 2022. Two independent reviewers used Covidence software to screen and extract data according to inclusion criteria. Study quality was assessed using the JBI’s critical appraisal tools for quality assessment.
Results: The search yielded a total of 23 relevant studies. Of these, four studies reported on interventions targeting PA and SB, and the remaining studies targeted PA only. No studies targeted sleep. Most interventions were multicomponent (e.g., education and counselling, performing the targeted behaviour). All interventions were culturally tailored and were effective in improving at least one of the targeted movement behaviours.
Conclusion: There is evidence to suggest that interventions targeting PA and SB among immigrants are effective, but there is no published evidence about interventions to promote sleep in this group. Further research is needed to inform interventions to promote the balance of movement behaviours over the 24-hour day among immigrants.
