The Complex Quest of Preventing Obesity in Early Childhood: Describing Challenges and Solutions Through Collaboration and Innovation

Anna Lene Seidler; Brittany J Johnson; Rebecca K Golley; Kylie E Hunter

doi:10.3389/fendo.2021.803545

The Complex Quest of Preventing Obesity in Early Childhood: Describing Challenges and Solutions Through Collaboration and Innovation

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Feb 7:12:803545. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.803545. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Anna Lene Seidler^{1

2}, Brittany J Johnson^{2

3

4}, Rebecca K Golley^{2

3

4}, Kylie E Hunter^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ National Health and Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
² Transforming Obesity Prevention in CHildren (TOPCHILD) Collaboration, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
³ Caring Futures Institute, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, Australia.
⁴ College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, Australia.

Abstract

Childhood obesity remains a major public health issue and priority area for action. Promisingly, obesity prevention interventions in the first 2000 days of life have shown modest effectiveness in improving health behaviours and healthy weight status in children. Yet, researchers in this field face several challenges. This can lead to research waste and impede progress towards delivering effective, scalable solutions. In this perspective article, we describe some of the key challenges in early childhood obesity prevention and outline innovative and collaborative solutions to overcome these. Combining these solutions will accelerate the generation of high-quality evidence that can be implemented into policy and practice.

Keywords: children; family; innovative methods; intervention; obesity prevention.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Child, Preschool
Humans
Pediatric Obesity* / prevention & control