Observational studies increasingly emphasize the impact of general parenting on the development of childhood overweight and obesity. The aim of the current literature review was to provide an overview of interventions addressing general parenting in order to prevent or treat childhood obesity. Electronic literature databases were systematically searched for relevant studies. Seven studies were eligible for inclusion. The studies described four different general parenting programs, which were supplemented with lifestyle components (i.e., physical activity and nutrition). All studies showed significant small to moderate intervention effects on at least one weight-related outcome measure. The current review shows that despite the emerging observational evidence for the role of parenting in children's weight-related outcomes, few interventions have been developed that address general parenting in the prevention of childhood obesity. These interventions provide evidence that the promotion of authoritative parenting is an effective strategy for the prevention and management of childhood obesity.

This paper presents an overview to provide readers with an update on the literature about the relation between parental influences (general parenting and food parenting practices) and children’s weight-related outcomes. It first summarizes the evidence regarding the role of food parenting practices in shaping and maintaining children’s nutritional and weight status. It then describes empirical evidence on the relation between general parenting and children’s weight status. This evidence is less convincing, possibly because general parenting has a different, more distal role in influencing child behavior than parenting practices. General parenting may moderate the impact of food parenting practices on children’s nutrition behaviors. Finally, we discuss studies on interventions targeting childhood overweight and obesity. There is no consensus on the optimal intervention targets (i.e., general parenting and/or food parenting practices). Based on the overview, we offer suggestions for future research.

The study explored the associations between various childcare staff food practices and children’s dietary intake at childcare. A total of 398 one- to four-year-old children and 24 childcare staff members from 24 Dutch childcare centers participated in the study. Children’s dietary intake (fruit, vegetable, sweet snack, savory snack, water, and sweet drink intake) at childcare was registered on two weekdays, using observations by dieticians and childcare staff. Thirteen childcare staff practices were assessed using questionnaires administered by dieticians. Data were analyzed using multilevel regression analyses. Children consumed relatively much fruit and many sweet snacks at childcare, and they mainly drank sweet drinks. Various staff practices were associated with children’s dietary intake. When staff explained what they were doing to the children during food preparation, children ate significantly more fruit. Children ate less sweet snacks when they were allowed to help prepare the meals. When staff encouraged children to continue eating, they ate more vegetables. In conclusion, the study showed the importance of childcare staff food practices for children’s food intake at childcare. More research is needed to examine the specific conditions under which food practices can have a positive impact on children’s dietary intake.

Background: The early years are a crucial period to promote healthy energy balance-related behaviours in children and prevent overweight and obesity. The childcare setting is important for health-promoting interventions. Increasingly, attention has been paid to parental involvement in childcare-based interventions. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions with direct parental involvement on the children’s weight status and behavioural outcomes.Methods: A systematic search was conducted in four electronic databases to include studies up until January 2019. Studies written in English, describing results on relevant outcomes (weight status, physical activity, sedentary behaviour and/or nutrition-related behaviour) of childcare-based interventions with direct parental involvement were included. Studies not adopting a pre-post-test design or reporting on pilot studies were excluded. To improve comparability, effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were calculated. Information on different types of environment targeted (e.g., social, physical, political and economic) was extracted in order to narratively examine potential working principles of effective interventions.Results: A total of 22 studies, describing 17 different interventions, were included. With regard to the intervention group, 61.1% found some favourable results on weight status, 73.3% on physical activity, 88.9% on sedentary behaviour, and all on nutrition-related behaviour. There were studies that also showed unfavourable results. Only a small number of studies was able to show significant differences between the intervention and control group (22.2% weight status, 60.0% physical activity, 66.6% sedentary behaviour, 76.9% nutrition behaviour). Effect sizes, if available, were predominantly small to moderate, with some exceptions with large effect sizes. The interventions predominantly targeted the socio-cultural and physical environments in both the childcare and home settings. Including changes in the political environment in the intervention and a higher level of intensity of parental involvement appeared to positively impact intervention effectiveness.Conclusion: Childcare-based interventions with direct parental involvement show promising effects on the children’s energy balance-related behaviours. However, evidence on effectiveness is limited, particularly for weight-related outcomes. Better understanding of how to reach and involve parents may be essential for strengthening intervention effectiveness.

The recruitment of participants for childhood overweight and obesity prevention interventions can be challenging. The goal of this study was to identify barriers that Dutch youth health care (YHC) professionals perceive when referring parents of overweight children to an obesity prevention intervention.

Parents often fail to correctly perceive their children’s weight status, but no studies have examined the association between parental weight status perception and longitudinal BMIz change (BMI standardized to a reference population) at various ages. We investigated whether parents are able to accurately perceive their child’s weight status at age 5. We also investigated predictors of accurate weight status perception. Finally, we investigated the predictive value of accurate weight status perception in explaining children’s longitudinal weight development up to the age of 9, in children who were overweight at the age of 5.