Early prevention matters: the role of preschool interventions in childhood obesity prevention

Healthy weight behaviours established in early childhood often continue into adolescence and adulthood, making the preschool years an important opportunity for obesity prevention. Our researchers sought to find out if healthy weight interventions targeted at children under 5 years old were successful in reducing children living with overweight/obesity.

Our researchers reviewed 40 studies involving nearly 27,000 preschool-aged children to understand whether these interventions make a meaningful difference. The interventions included approaches focused on healthy eating, physical activity, and behaviour change. Researchers examined outcomes such as BMI, waist circumference, body fat percentage, and other measures of body composition.

Most studies showed at least some evidence of improvement, with children receiving interventions demonstrating lower BMI z-scores, smaller waist circumference, lower body fat percentage, and higher fat-free mass index compared to control groups. Although the improvements were modest, these findings suggest that universal interventions introduced early in life may still have important benefits for children’s long-term health.

These findings highlight the potential value of investing in universal early childhood health programs as part of wider public health and obesity prevention strategies. While individual improvements may appear small, interventions delivered at scale during the preschool years could contribute to healthier growth trajectories across the population and help reduce the long-term health and economic burden associated with childhood obesity.

Read our full research findings here.