Scoping review showed that obesity prevention in Nordic countries had limited effects on children from birth to 7 years of age

Abstract

AbstractAimThe aim of this scoping review was to map and summarise clinical trials that attempted to prevent obesity in children from birth to 7 years of age in any of the Nordic countries.MethodsPubMed, CINAHL Plus and clinicaltrials.gov were searched for peer‐reviewed papers and registered trials published in English or Swedish. The overall search period was from 1 January 2002 to 13 December 2022. We included randomised and non‐randomised trials initiated from birth to 7 years of age that aimed to prevent obesity in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.ResultsThe search resulted in 414 papers and 14 were included. Despite having diverse settings and designs, none of them reported consistently favourable results for anthropometric outcomes, apart from beneficial trends in subgroups with a high body mass index at baseline. Most studies reported temporarily improved dietary patterns.ConclusionThere is a gap in the current research about how to best prevent obesity in children. We suggest that researchers should focus on risk groups and that interventions that last a number of years are needed.