Background Health clinics and school health is a statutory service in Norway. The municipalities have the responsibility and freedom to organize activities in an appropriate manner, adapted to local needs, as long as current laws and regulations are followed.

Aim Norwegian Knowledge Centre for Health Services was commissioned by the Directorate of Health to summarize the available research on the effect of school health services for children and young people's health and growing up conditions. This review will be used as a basis to study measures to strengthen school health services. Our key findings are:

• Screening and early psychological intervention of children with depression may reduce depression in children and adolescents.
• Early interventions based on cognitive behaviour therapy may have a small effect on reducing the incidence of anxiety among school children in general and to reduce anxiety among school children who already have symptoms of anxiety.
• Combination of education and distribution of contraceptives may reduce number of unwanted pregnancies.
• Smoking prevention programs in schools seem to have an effect on reducing smoking prevalence, smoking initiation and intended smoking
• School-based programs for children with asthma seems to increased knowledge and self-management.

The review could only partly answer our questions; we did not identify any systematic reviews that focused on health care personnel in a school health service as it is organized in Norway. We did, however, identify a number of preventive and health promotion initiatives implemented at schools where health care professionals are involved.