TY - JOUR
T1 - "Whole-of-Community" Obesity Prevention
T2 - A Review of Challenges and Opportunities in Multilevel, Multicomponent Interventions
AU - Ewart-Pierce, Ella
AU - Mejía Ruiz, María José
AU - Gittelsohn, Joel
N1 - Funding Information:
The work described was supported by Grant Number U54HD070725 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD). The project is co-funded by the NICHD and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NICHD or OBSSR.
PY - 2016/9/1
Y1 - 2016/9/1
N2 - The causes of obesity worldwide are complex and multilevel, including changing food environments, physical activity levels, policies, and food production systems. This intricate context requires multilevel and multicomponent (MLMC) interventions to improve health outcomes. We conducted a literature review of MLMC interventions for obesity prevention and mitigation; 14 studies meeting search criteria were identified. We found examples of successes in preventing obesity, reducing overweight, improving healthful behaviors, and enhancing some psychosocial indicators. Of eight studies that reported health and behavioral results, five showed no significant impact and three showed reductions in obesity. Four studies showed significant improvement in dietary behavior, and five reported significant desirable effects in physical activity or screen time. Five studies reported psychosocial impacts, and three of these showed significant improvements. MLMC approaches show promising results, particularly when they are able to integrate components at the policy, community, and interpersonal levels.
AB - The causes of obesity worldwide are complex and multilevel, including changing food environments, physical activity levels, policies, and food production systems. This intricate context requires multilevel and multicomponent (MLMC) interventions to improve health outcomes. We conducted a literature review of MLMC interventions for obesity prevention and mitigation; 14 studies meeting search criteria were identified. We found examples of successes in preventing obesity, reducing overweight, improving healthful behaviors, and enhancing some psychosocial indicators. Of eight studies that reported health and behavioral results, five showed no significant impact and three showed reductions in obesity. Four studies showed significant improvement in dietary behavior, and five reported significant desirable effects in physical activity or screen time. Five studies reported psychosocial impacts, and three of these showed significant improvements. MLMC approaches show promising results, particularly when they are able to integrate components at the policy, community, and interpersonal levels.
KW - Adult
KW - Child
KW - Community-based interventions
KW - Health behavior
KW - Health promotion
KW - Lifestyle
KW - Minority populations
KW - Multicomponent
KW - Multilevel
KW - Obesity
KW - Prevention
KW - Research design
KW - Review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050578185&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1007/s13679-016-0226-7
DO - 10.1007/s13679-016-0226-7
M3 - Review article
C2 - 27379620
AN - SCOPUS:85050578185
SN - 2162-4968
VL - 5
SP - 361
EP - 374
JO - Current Obesity Reports
JF - Current Obesity Reports
IS - 3
ER -