Strategies for Preventing Childhood Obesity at the Primary Care Level: A Review of Effectiveness and Implementation Barriers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66201/ss.v1.1Keywords:
Pediatric Obesity, Primary Health Care, Preventive Health Services, Lifestyle Intervention, Doctor-Patient Relationships, Cost-EffectivenessAbstract
Introduction: Childhood obesity is a critical public health problem requiring early intervention. While primary health care (PHC) is the ideal setting for prevention during the early childhood “window of opportunity,” a significant gap exists between clinical guidelines and actual practice. The aim of this review was to analyze the effectiveness of PHC interventions for children aged 2–12 years and to identify barriers to their implementation.
Methods: An integrative review was conducted using the methodological framework of Whittemore and Knafl. Studies published between 2015 and 2025 from PubMed, Scopus, and grey literature were analyzed, including clinical trials, qualitative studies, and cost-effectiveness analyses. School-based or pharmacological interventions were excluded.
Results: Evidence confirms that early interventions are effective, but they suffer a “fade-out effect” upon reaching school age if there is no ongoing reinforcement. While school-based interventions have proven to be highly cost-effective (approximately $900/QALY), clinical interventions face systemic barriers (lack of time, insufficient training) and relational barriers (underestimation of weight by parents) that perpetuate therapeutic inertia. The most successful models were those that integrated community components and mHealth tools.
Conclusions: Isolated prevention in the doctor's office is insufficient. A shift towards a hybrid model is proposed, where the primary care physician acts as a “detector and connector,” leading risk screening and coordinating referrals to community and school resources to ensure the sustainability of behavioral change.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Denise Muñoz, Carlos María Gómez, Shirley Michelle Huang Liao, Pamela Mercedes Cousirat Guillén, Marcos Monges, Ruth Leiva, Sandra González (Autor/a)
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