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Population-level intervention strategies and examples for obesity prevention in children

Jennifer L Foltz1, Ashleigh L May, Brook Belay

  • 1Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, USA. JFoltz@cdc.gov

Annual Review of Nutrition
|May 1, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Childhood obesity impacts millions of American youth, necessitating population-level strategies. This review summarizes interventions for nutrition and physical activity across settings to prevent and control pediatric obesity.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Pediatric Obesity Prevention
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Obesity affects approximately 12.5 million American youth.
  • Population-level interventions are crucial for supporting healthy behaviors in children.
  • Existing strategies require synthesis and dissemination for effective childhood obesity prevention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To summarize population-level intervention strategies for childhood obesity prevention.
  • To provide specific intervention examples for improving nutrition and physical activity behaviors.
  • To organize information within key child settings: early care and education, school, community, health care, and home.

Main Methods:

  • Intervention strategies identified from systematic reviews, evidence-based recommendations, and peer-reviewed synthesis reviews.
  • Intervention examples sourced from peer-reviewed literature and research-tested/practice-based initiatives.
  • Information synthesized across settings where children live, learn, and play.

Main Results:

  • A summary of diverse population-level intervention strategies for childhood obesity.
  • Illustrative examples of successful interventions in various settings.
  • Identification of actionable strategies for researchers and practitioners.

Conclusions:

  • This review provides a comprehensive resource for implementing childhood obesity prevention strategies.
  • It facilitates priority setting and cross-setting integration of interventions.
  • Offers replicable, research- and practice-tested examples for community application.

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