Family-based interventions for preventing overweight or obesity among preschoolers from racial/ethnic minority groups: A scoping review

Abstract

Objective: This scoping review aimed to synthesize the published literature on family-based childhood obesity prevention interventions from 2015 to 2021 that focused on children 2–5 years of age from racial and/or ethnic minority households. Methods: A PICOS (population, intervention, comparison, outcome, and setting) framework was used to guide the development of the research question, search strategy, and inclusion/exclusion criteria. To be included, the study must have been a randomized controlled trial or quasi-experimental trial that enrolled participants 2–5 years of age and their caregivers who identified as being from a racial and/or ethnic minority group in the United States. The study must have also examined a family-based intervention that incorporated components to prevent childhood obesity (i.e., fruits and vegetable intake, parental responsive feeding, physical activity), be conducted in a remote (i.e., online, text, mail), home, community, primary care setting, or early childhood education institution setting, and report on body mass index (BMI, kg/m2), BMI z-score, anthropometric measures (weight, waist circumference, fat mass, etc.), changes in health behaviors, or increase in nutritional knowledge. Results: Fourteen individual studies were identified. Most interventions used multiple components for promoting nutritional knowledge and behavioral changes among families. Eight interventions included culturally tailored components targeting four aspects: (1) language barriers, (2) food choices, (3) relationships between family members, and (4) rapport building. Conclusions: There is limited research in this field focusing on children from racial and/or ethnic minority groups. Future efforts should invest in developing culturally appropriate interventions for these groups.