Family-centered positive behavior support interventions in early childhood to prevent obesity

Abstract

Positive behavior support (PBS) strategies in early childhood, which include proactively structuring environments to support and positively reinforce healthy dietary and physical activity behaviors, are critical for preventing pediatric obesity, particularly among low-income, ethnic minority children. Existing evidence-based family-centered preventive interventions effectively impact parents’ use of PBS strategies. Enhancing these programs to more directly target the key mechanisms of change specific to promoting children’s healthy lifestyle behaviors could serve as the foundation for the next generation of effective protocols for preventing pediatric obesity. Two established programs that target PBS that can be feasibly implemented in a variety of service delivery systems using a multi-tiered, adaptive approach and the next steps of translation are discussed.