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. 2022 Apr 18;19(8):4910.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19084910.

Involvement of Non-Parental Caregivers in Obesity Prevention Interventions among 0-3-Year-Old Children: A Scoping Review

Andrea Ramirez  1 , Alison Tovar  2 , Gretel Garcia  3 , Tanya Nieri  4 , Stephanie Hernandez  5 , Myrna Sastre  4 , Ann M Cheney  6
Affiliations

Involvement of Non-Parental Caregivers in Obesity Prevention Interventions among 0-3-Year-Old Children: A Scoping Review

Andrea Ramirez et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: We examined the scope of literature including non-parental caregiver involvement in child obesity prevention interventions.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review following the Arksey and O'Malley framework, including only studies reporting the effect of an intervention on growth, weight, or early childhood obesity risk among children ages 0 to three years, published between 2000 and 2021. Interventions that did not include non-parental caregivers (adults regularly involved in childcare other than parents) were excluded.

Results: Of the 14 studies that met the inclusion criteria, all were published between 2013 and 2020, and most interventions (n = 9) were implemented in the United States. Eight of the 14 interventions purposefully included other non-parental caregivers: five included both parents and non-parental caregivers, and the remaining three included only non-parental caregivers. Most interventions (n = 9) showed no significant impact on anthropometric outcomes. All interventions found improvements in at least one behavioral outcome (e.g., food groups intake (n = 5), parental feeding practices (n = 3), and screen time (n = 2)). This review can inform future interventions that plan to involve non-parental caregivers, which may be beneficial in shaping early health behaviors and preventing obesity early in life.

Keywords: child feeding; child growth; child weight; early childhood obesity; prevention interventions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Screening process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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