A systematic analysis of childhood obesity prevention interventions targeting Hispanic children: lessons learned from the previous decade

Abstract

Hispanic children suffer from the highest overall rates of prevalence for overweight and obesity in the US. In the last decade some interventions for prevention of childhood obesity have been developed and tailored to target this subgroup. The purpose of this review is to systematically analyze and summarize findings for health education and promotion interventions aimed at the prevention of childhood overweight and obesity among primarily Hispanic children. A systematic review of PubMed, CINAHL, and ERIC was done for the time period 2000 to May 2010. A posteriori effect size for the primary outcome of each intervention was calculated using G*Power. A total of nine interventions were located; five randomized controlled trials and four were either quasi-experimental or pilot studies. Among these studies, only four had significant findings, and calculated effect sizes (Cohen's f) ranged from small to medium with the highest f = 0.26. Interventions were more likely to be successful when participants were at higher risk for obesity, a parental component was included, the intervention contained theoretical underpinnings, the intervention was delivered by a dedicated staff, the intervention served older children and the intervention was longer in duration. More interventions need to be developed for Hispanic children. Future interventions should also develop and utilize culturally appropriate and sensitive materials and approaches.