Preventing obesity in pre-school children: a literature review

Obesity in children is increasing worldwide, impacting on both long- and short-term health. Obesity prevention is an important contemporary public health priority and is firmly on the Government's agenda in the UK. Prevention involves addressing the main risk factors of diet and physical inactivity and also involves a wide range of environmental factors including access to sport and leisure, family life, diet, education and information. A literature review undertaken on preventing obesity in children aged < 5. The review confirms that there is a limited and immature evidence and lack of comprehensive evidence on effective strategies to prevent obesity in younger children. The overall quality of studies is poor. The need remains for structured, focused and systematic research on child obesity prevention. Well-designed studies examining a range of interventions remain a priority. The findings in this review support the recommendations in the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines on obesity.