The multifactorial causes of obesity require multilevel and multicomponent solutions, but such combined strategies have not been tested to improve the community food environment. We evaluated the impact of a multilevel (operating at different levels of the food environment) multicomponent (interventions occurring at the same level) community intervention. The B’more Healthy Communities for Kids (BHCK) intervention worked at the wholesaler (n = 3), corner store (n = 50), carryout (n = 30), recreation center (n = 28), household (n = 365) levels to improve availability, purchasing, and consumption of healthier foods and beverages (low-sugar, low-fat) in low-income food desert predominantly African American zones in the city of Baltimore (MD, USA), ultimately intending to lead to decreased weight gain in children (not reported in this manuscript). For this paper, we focus on more proximal impacts on the food environment, and measure change in stocking, sales and purchase of promoted foods at the different levels of the food system in 14 intervention neighborhoods, as compared to 14 comparison neighborhoods. Sales of promoted products increased in wholesalers. Stocking of these products improved in corner stores, but not in carryouts, and we did not find any change in total sales. Children more exposed to the intervention increased their frequency of purchase of promoted products, although improvement was not seen for adult caregivers. A multilevel food environment intervention in a low-income urban setting improved aspects of the food system, leading to increased healthy food purchasing behavior in children.

Studies from diverse cultures report mixed results in the relationship between birth order and risk for obesity. Explanations may thus lie in the postnatal period when growth is shaped by the family environment, including parental feeding practices, which may be affected by siblings. Consistent with a family systems perspective, we describe two processes that may explain birth order effects on parental feeding practices and child outcomes: learned experience and resource dilution. Parents learn from experience when earlier-born children influence their parents’ knowledge, expectations, and behavior toward later-born siblings through their behaviors and characteristics—which can have both positive and negative implications. Resource dilution is a process whereby the birth of each child limits the time, attention and other resources parents have to devote to any one of their children. The goal of this review is to provide a theoretical basis for examining potential sibling influences on parental responsive feeding toward developing recommendations for future research and practice aimed at preventing obesity throughout family systems.

The Intervention Nurses Start Infant Growing on Healthy Trajectories (INSIGHT) study's responsive parenting (RP) intervention, initiated in early infancy, prevented the use of nonresponsive, controlling feeding practices and promoted use of structure-based feeding among first-time parents compared with controls. We sought to examine the spillover effect of the RP intervention on maternal feeding practices with their secondborn (SB) infants enrolled in an observational-only study, SIBSIGHT, and to test the moderating effect of spacing of births. SB infants of mothers participating in the INSIGHT study were enrolled into the observation-only ancillary study, SIBSIGHT. SBs were healthy singleton infants ≥36 weeks of gestation. Infant feeding practices (i.e., food to soothe, structure vs. control-based practices) were assessed using validated questionnaires: Babies Need Soothing Questionnaire, Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire, and the Structure and Control in Parent Feeding Questionnaire. SBs (n = 117 [RP: 57, control: 60]; 43% male) were delivered 2.5 ± 0.8 y after firstborns (FBs). At age 1 y, the Structure and Control in Parent Feeding Questionnaire revealed that the mothers in the RP group used more consistent feeding routines (4.19 [0.43] compared with 3.77 [0.62], P = 0.0006, Cohen's D: 0.69) compared with control group mothers. From the Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire, RP group mothers also used less nonresponsive, controlling feeding practices such as pressuring their SB infant to finish (1.81 [0.52] compared with 2.24 [0.68], P = 0.001, Cohen's D: 0.68) compared with controls. In contrast to our hypotheses, no differences were detected in bottle-feeding practices such as putting to bed with a bottle/sippy cup or adding cereal to the bottle, despite observing study group differences in FBs. Spacing of births did not moderate intervention effects. RP guidance given to mothers of FBs may prevent the use of some nonresponsive, controlling feeding practices while establishing consistent feeding routines in subsequent siblings.

Next‐generation incretin therapies, including semaglutide and tirzepatide, have transformed obesity and Type 2 diabetes management. However, evidence‐based nutritional strategies to support safe and effective use of these agents remain limited. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic scoping review across five databases of studies published between January 2015 and April 2025 to map and appraise clinical trials incorporating nutritional interventions or dietary assessments during semaglutide or tirzepatide therapy in adults with obesity or Type 2 diabetes. Eligible studies included adults receiving semaglutide or tirzepatide with either an active dietary intervention or measured nutrition‐related outcomes. Study quality was assessed using established tools. Twelve studies were included: 10 randomized controlled trials, one non‐randomized comparative study, and one cross‐sectional observational study. Interventions ranged from structured very‐low‐energy or ketogenic diets to general lifestyle counseling and observational dietary assessments. Across studies, energy intake decreased by 24% to 39%, but lean tissue loss accounted for up to 40% of total weight reduction. Only three studies involved nutrition professionals, and systematic assessment of protein or micronutrient intake was rare. One observational study found widespread nutrient inadequacies and limited access to dietetic support. Despite the effectiveness of semaglutide and tirzepatide for weight loss, evidence on optimal dietary strategies is sparse. Early dietitian involvement, high‐protein, nutrient‐dense diets, and routine nutritional monitoring should be prioritized. Robust trials are needed to define best practice for integrating dietary care alongside pharmacotherapy.

B’More Healthy Communities for Kids was a multi-level, multi-component obesity prevention intervention to improve access, demand and consumption of healthier foods and beverages in 28 low-income neighborhoods in Baltimore City, MD. Process evaluation assesses the implementation of an intervention and monitor progress. To the best of our knowledge, little detailed process data from multi-level obesity prevention trials have been published. Implementation of each intervention component (wholesaler, recreation center, carryout restaurant, corner store, policy and social media/text messaging) was classified as high, medium or low according to set standards. The wholesaler component achieved high implementation for reach, dose delivered and fidelity. Recreation center and carryout restaurant components achieved medium reach, dose delivered and fidelity. Corner stores achieved medium reach and dose delivered and high fidelity. The policy component achieved high reach and medium dose delivered and fidelity. Social media/text messaging achieved medium reach and high dose delivered and fidelity. Overall, study reach and dose delivered achieved a high implementation level, whereas fidelity achieved a medium level. Varying levels of implementation may have balanced the performance of an intervention component for each process evaluation construct. This detailed process evaluation of the B’More Healthy Communities for Kids allowed the assessment of implementation successes, failures and challenges of each intervention component.