Overweight and obesity in childhood are highly preventable and parents are keyrole models in the establishment of healthy behaviours. The aimof this study wasto assess the effectiveness of family-based interventions for prevention of overweightand obesity in children aged 2–6 years. A systematic literature search wasperformed in the databases such as Medline, PsycInfo, Family Study Abstracts,Embase, and CINAHL, published between 2010 and May 2019. The eligible studieswere preventive randomised controlled interventions targeting the child or thechild’s caregivers. The primary outcome was body mass index (BMI).Twelve trials were included with a total of 3506 participants.

Twelve trials were included with a total of 3506 participants. The overallfollow-up rate in the intervention groups was 83% as compared to 82% in thecontrol groups. Nine trials had a high or unclear risk of bias. The children werefollowed for between 6 weeks and 3 years. Four of the interventions showedsignificant intervention effects on BMI. Significant effects on children’s foodintake were reported in one (of five) study, whereas no significant changes inphysical activity were found (six studies). Two studies (of six) measuring sedentarybehaviours and one (of three) measuring sleep showed significant differencesbetween groups favouring the intervention group.

The current evidence for the effects of preventive family interventions islimited. The four trials showing positive effects on BMI were multicomponentinterventions, lasting for a minimum of 12 weekly sessions.