Interventions that impact weight status in Hispanic preschool children

Central American Parents' Preferences for Content and Modality for a Family-Centered Intervention to Promote Healthful Energy Balance-Related Behaviors of Their Preschool-Age Children

This formative research used a cross-sectional survey to assess interest in informational content and intervention modalities for the design of an early childhood obesity prevention intervention for Central American families from the Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) living in the United States. A total of 74 parents (36 mothers, 38 fathers) with a mean age of 31.6 years (SD = 5.6) completed the survey; 59.5% of whom were born outside of the United States. Although most parents reported being very interested in receiving information related to the seven assessed energy balance-related behaviors, there were significant differences by parents' gender and nativity. Most parents endorsed remote modalities for content delivery via text/SMS, WhatsApp, and e-mail. However, respondents were also receptive to in-person delivery provided by community health workers. There were also significant differences in parents' preferences for intervention modalities by parents' gender and nativity. Future steps should include investigating different intervention modalities and their integration into a linguistic and culturally sensitive family-based intervention to promote healthful energy balance-related behaviors of preschool-age children in Central American families originating from the Northern Triangle countries.

Pediatric Obesity Prevention and Treatment Among Hispanics: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

INTRODUCTION

The rates of pediatric obesity in the U.S. are highest among Hispanics. There is no existing meta-analysis of the effects of obesity interventions among Hispanic youth. This systematic review and meta-analysis assesses the effects of obesity prevention and treatment interventions on Hispanic youth's weight status and lifestyle behaviors.

METHODS

PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus were searched between January 1, 2000 and October 30, 2020. Interventions with ≥50% Hispanic youth aged 0-18 years were included. Using a weighted inverse-variance procedure, fixed-effects and random-effects models were run for an overall effect size on the basis of the Qtotal test statistic. Hedges' g was calculated for outcomes of interest between baseline and postintervention separately for studies with multiple versus single conditions. Continuous and categorical moderators were also examined.

RESULTS

A total of 1,103 articles were screened, of which 117 were included in the narrative synthesis and 105 in the meta-analysis (n=49,276 youth). The overall effects for RCT/quasi-experimental studies on BMI status (g= -0.15, SE=0.03, 95% CI= -0.20, -0.10), waist circumference (g= -0.15, SE=0.10, 95% CI= -0.35, -0.05), physical activity (g=0.12, SE=0.05, 95% CI=0.03, 0.22), fruit and vegetable intake (g=0.08, SE=0.02, 95% CI=0.03, 0.12), and sugar-sweetened beverage intake (g= -0.07, SE= 0.03, 95% CI= -0.13, -0.01) were small. Intervention effects varied by participant developmental stage, SES, study setting, and lifestyle behavior target.

DISCUSSION

Beyond developing more impactful interventions to address obesity among Hispanic youth, findings highlight the need for targeted policies and more easily disseminable interventions that can spread small effects across a population for maximal public health impact.