Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Feb 7:12:803545.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.803545. eCollection 2021.

The Complex Quest of Preventing Obesity in Early Childhood: Describing Challenges and Solutions Through Collaboration and Innovation

Anna Lene Seidler  1   2 , Brittany J Johnson  2   3   4 , Rebecca K Golley  2   3   4 , Kylie E Hunter  1   2
Affiliations

The Complex Quest of Preventing Obesity in Early Childhood: Describing Challenges and Solutions Through Collaboration and Innovation

Anna Lene Seidler et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Childhood obesity remains a major public health issue and priority area for action. Promisingly, obesity prevention interventions in the first 2000 days of life have shown modest effectiveness in improving health behaviours and healthy weight status in children. Yet, researchers in this field face several challenges. This can lead to research waste and impede progress towards delivering effective, scalable solutions. In this perspective article, we describe some of the key challenges in early childhood obesity prevention and outline innovative and collaborative solutions to overcome these. Combining these solutions will accelerate the generation of high-quality evidence that can be implemented into policy and practice.

Keywords: children; family; innovative methods; intervention; obesity prevention.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

AS, BJ, RG, and KH are part of the EPOCH and EPOCH Translate Centres for Research Excellence. AS is the chair of the TOPCHILD Collaboration. BJ and KH are co-deputy chairs of the TOPCHILD Collaboration. AS and KH are affiliated with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register. AS is the co-convener and primary contact of the Cochrane Prospective Meta-Analysis Methods Group. KH is the associate convener of the Cochrane Prospective Meta-Analysis Methods Group.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Simplified illustration of intervention pathways and challenges for effective childhood obesity prevention. The ‘Key challenges’ box at the bottom of the figure summarises the challenges arising from the complex pathway depicted in the top section of the figure.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Proposed solutions to challenges in early childhood obesity prevention interventions. Associations and interactions are hypothesised to be present between each of the challenges, as well as between each of the solutions. BCTTv1, Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy version 1; CONSORT, Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials; HBCP, Human Behaviour Change Project; IPD, individual participant data; MOST, Multiphase Optimisation Strategy; RCTs, randomised controlled trials; TIDieR, Template for Intervention Description and Replication.
Figure 3
Figure 3
How to apply proposed solutions throughout the research process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) World Health Organization. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank . Levels and Trends in Child Malnutrition: Key Findings of the 2020 Edition of the Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates. Geneva: World Health Organization; (2020). March 2020. Report No.: ISBN: 9789240003576.
    1. Halfon N, Larson K, Slusser W. Associations Between Obesity and Comorbid Mental Health, Developmental, and Physical Health Conditions in a Nationally Representative Sample of US Children Aged 10 to 17. Acad Pediatr (2013) 13(1):6–13. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2012.10.007 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mihrshahi S, Gow ML, Baur LA. Contemporary Approaches to the Prevention and Management of Paediatric Obesity: An Australian Focus. Med J Aust (2018) 209(6):267–74. doi: 10.5694/mja18.00140 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Finegood DT, Merth TD, Rutter H. Implications of the Foresight Obesity System Map for Solutions to Childhood Obesity. Obesity (2010) 18(Suppl 1):S13–S6. doi: 10.1038/oby.2009.426 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brown T, Moore THM, Hooper L, Gao Y, Zayegh A, Ijaz S, et al. . Interventions for Preventing Obesity in Children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev (2019) 7:1–628. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001871.pub4 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types