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Systematic Review
The authors state:
"This review aimed to: assess effects of caregiver involvement in interventions for improving children's dietary intake and physical activity behaviors, including those intended to prevent overweight and obesity. To describe intervention content and behavior change techniques employed, drawing from a behavior change technique taxonomy developed and advanced by Abraham, Michie, and colleagues (Abraham 2008; Michie 2011; Michie 2013; Michie 2015). To identify content and techniques related to reported outcomes when such information was reported in included studies."
The authors state:
"The review included 23 trials with approximately 12,192 children in eligible intervention arms. With the exception of two studies, all were conducted in high‐income countries, with more than half performed in North America. Most studies were school‐based and involved the addition of healthy eating or physical education classes, or both, sometimes in tandem with other changes to the school environment.
Seven studies compared dietary behavior change interventions with and without a caregiver component. At the end of the intervention, we did not detect a difference between intervention arms in children's percentage of total energy intake from saturated fat (mean difference [MD] −0.42%, 95% confidence interval [CI] −1.25 to 0.41, 1 study, n = 207; low‐quality evidence) or from sodium intake (MD −0.12 g/d, 95% CI −0.36 to 0.12, 1 study, n = 207; low‐quality evidence).
Six studies compared physical activity interventions with and without a caregiver component. At the end of the intervention, we did not detect a difference between intervention arms in children's total physical activity (MD 0.20 min/h, 95% CI −1.19 to 1.59, 1 study, n = 54; low‐quality evidence) or moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (standard mean difference [SMD] 0.04, 95% CI −0.41 to 0.49, 2 studies, n = 80; moderate‐quality evidence).
Ten studies compared dietary and physical activity interventions with and without a caregiver component. At the end of the intervention, we detected a small positive impact of a caregiver component on children's SSB intake (SMD −0.28, 95% CI −0.44 to −0.12, 3 studies, n = 651; moderate‐quality evidence).
We did not detect a difference between intervention arms in children's percentage of total energy intake from saturated fat (MD 0.06%, 95% CI −0.67 to 0.80, 2 studies, n = 216; very low‐quality evidence), sodium intake (MD 35.94 mg/d, 95% CI −322.60 to 394.47, 2 studies, n = 315; very low‐quality evidence), fruit and vegetable intake (MD 0.38 servings/d, 95% CI −0.51 to 1.27, 1 study, n = 134; very low‐quality evidence), total physical activity (MD 1.81 min/d, 95% CI −15.18 to 18.80, 2 studies, n = 573; low‐quality evidence), or MVPA (MD −0.05 min/d, 95% CI −18.57 to 18.47, 1 study, n = 622; very low‐quality evidence)."
The authors state:
"Current evidence is insufficient to support the inclusion of caregiver involvement in interventions to improve children's dietary intake or physical activity behavior, or both. For most outcomes, the quality of the evidence is adversely impacted by the small number of studies with available data, limited effective sample sizes, risk of bias, and imprecision. To establish the value of caregiver involvement, additional studies measuring clinically important outcomes using valid and reliable measures, employing appropriate design and power, and following established reporting guidelines are needed, as is evidence on how such interventions might contribute to health equity."