title: [The effectiveness of primary prevention interventions promoting physical activity and healthy eating in preschool children: A review of reviews].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  During their preschool years children establish nutritional and physical activity (PA) habits that may contribute to the development of overweight and obesity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the evidence for effective interventions promoting healthy eating and PA in childcare settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Campbell Collaboration for systematic reviews published between 2007 and 2014. Ten systematic reviews and three meta-analyses met the inclusion criteria, including a total of 22 intervention studies. Intervention studies were conducted in North America (N = 14), Europe (N = 5), Asia (N = 2), and Australia (N = 1). Half of these addressed ethnic minority groups or socially disadvantaged children. We extracted information about the effects regarding anthropometric measures, eating habits, and physical activity, as well as the characteristics of effective interventions, and summarized them narratively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Evidence for intervention effects on anthropometric measurements was inconclusive. Seven out of nine studies showed beneficial effects on diet-related outcomes. Only isolated effects were reported on improvements in PA. Reviews indicated that interventions which comprised (1) the development of skills and competencies, (2) medium to high parental involvement, and (3) information on behavior-health links for parents were more effective.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preschool-based interventions showed some early improvements in eating habits and PA. Evidence is limited by the small number of studies, a lack of methodological quality, and inconsistencies among outcome measures. Evidence regarding anthropometric measurements is still inconclusive.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung Prävention und Evaluation, Leibniz-Institut für Präventionsforschung und Epidemiologie - BIPS, Achterstraße 30, 28359, Bremen, Deutschland, steenbock@bips.uni-bremen.de.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Steenbock
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Pischke
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schönbach
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pöttgen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brand
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004035:Diet Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057220:Health Literacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015995:Prevalence; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013812:Therapeutics; D016896:Treatment Outcome