Infant and young child feeding interventions targeting overweight and obesity: A narrative review

Abstract

Summary findings from systematic reviews into infant feeding and later adiposity are largely negative. World Health Organization (WHO) is auspicing Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI), a suite of trials aiming to prevent overweight/obesity in childhood. To inform planning, this narrative review sought to detail potentially effective components of nutrition‐related interventions involving children aged 0 to 2 years. Systematic searches of PubMed and the Cochrane Library (2006‐2016) identified 108 systematic reviews. These included 31 randomized trials in the age group of interest. Of these, 11 reported greater than or equal to 1 statistically significant (P < 0.05) benefit on body weight and/or composition. Six multicomponent trials whose interventions incorporated education to promote breastfeeding (four trials), responsive feeding (two trials), and healthy diet (eg, increasing fruit and vegetables and limiting unhealthy snack foods; five trials), delivered through home visits or at baby health clinics, reported relative reductions in body mass index (BMI) at the end of intervention. Early benefits were not maintained in the two trials reporting follow‐up 1 to 3 years later. Other potentially effective approaches included lower protein formulas in formula‐fed infants and education around reducing sugar‐sweetened beverages. There is some evidence that infant feeding interventions can have a transient positive impact on a child s BMI. It is not known whether ongoing intervention can avoid the subsequent expected wash‐out.