Preventing obesity in children aged 2 to 4: Updated Cochrane review finds early interventions may help prevent excess weight in young children 

Overweight and obesity in young children is a growing global concern, with links to long-term health and social impacts. This updated Cochrane review evaluates whether strategies aimed at improving diet and physical activity levels in children aged 2 to 4 can help prevent excess weight gain.

The review found that combined diet and activity interventions may lead to small reductions in measures of BMI in young children, a meaningful outcome for public health. There was limited information on whether the interventions caused any serious harm, but based on the available evidence, none appeared to result in serious harm to young children.

Most interventions were delivered in high-income countries and were based in home or childcare settings. However, the authors note that the overall certainty of the evidence remains low. Further research in this area should focus on upstream approaches, as well as interventions in low- to middle-income countries.

Click the link below to view the full review and plain language summary.

Full Review: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD015326.pub2/full

Plain Language summary: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD015326.pub2/full#CD015326-abs-0002

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