Narrative review of reviews of preconception interventions to prevent an increased risk of obesity and non-communicable diseases in children.

Abstract

Evidence for the effect of preconception and periconceptional risk factors on childhood outcomes such as obesity and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in later life is growing. Issues such as maternal malnutrition need to be addressed before pregnancy, to prevent a transgenerational passage of risk of NCDs. The aim of this review was to evidence for preconception interventions to prevent obesity and other risk factors for NCDs in children. A search for systematic reviews of interventions in the preconception period published between 2006 and 2018 was conducted on academic databases. Fifteen reviews were included, two of the reviews also included pregnant women. None of the reviews directly reported on obesity or NCD outcomes in children. Results suggest that exercise- and diet-based interventions significantly reduced maternal weight postpartum, weight gain during pregnancy, and improved prevention and control of gestational diabetes. Balanced protein energy supplementation during and before pregnancy was associated with an increase in mean birth weight and reduction of low birth weight babies. There is a dearth of evidence for preconception programmes that follow up on childhood outcomes related to a risk of NCDs. Nevertheless, results suggest that women who received preconception interventions were more likely to have improved pregnancy-related and behavioural outcomes.