Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 J Immigrant Minority Health DOI 10.1007/s10903-017-0672-7 REVIEW PAPER Interventions Aimed at Decreasing Obesity in Hispanic Children in the First 1000 Days: A Systematic Review Ahmed Ismaeel 1,2  · Suzy Weems 1  · Megan McClendon 2  · Flor Elisa Morales 2   © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2017 Keywords Hispanic · Latino · Childhood obesity · Interventions Introduction Most of the reported childhood obesity research has neglected to include investigation of children prior to 2 years of age [1]. Nonetheless, approximately 8.1% of U.S. children below 2 years of age have weight-for-length ≥ 95th percen- tile, which predisposes them to obesity [2]. The “frst 1000 days”, or the period from conception through age 2 years, is recognized as a critical intervention period for preventing the early onset of childhood obesity [3]. In fact, previous research has shown that BMI at 5–6 years of age is deter- mined as early as 2 months to 2 years of age [4–6]. Racial/ethnic disparities in childhood obesity also per- sist and appear to be widening [2]. Specifcally, Hispanic children ages 2–5 years have a fvefold higher prevalence of obesity compared to non-Hispanic white counterparts [7]. Diferent behaviors such as nonexclusive breastfeeding, early introduction of solid foods, and sugar-sweetened bev- erage intake have been implicated as potential contributors to racial/ethnic diferences in childhood obesity [8]. Addi- tionally, researchers suggest that Hispanic mothers may feed their children excessively to make certain they have eaten well [9], cater to the demands of their children [10], and believe their overweight or obese children have a healthy weight status [11]. Data from studies analyzing childhood obesity risk factors suggest that opportunities exist in the frst 2 years of life to improve both the understanding of Hispanic mothers of the role of early life weight gain in childhood obesity as well as other risk factors for early life obesity [12]. Interventions to modify early-life risk fac- tors may have a substantial impact on reducing disparities Abstract The prevalence of obesity is higher among Hispanic children than among all other ethnicities, and recent eforts have been focused on addressing this grow- ing disparity. The objective of this review was to examine the evidence for interventions designed to reduce obesity in Hispanic children in the frst 1000 days of life and to assess and summarize the efectiveness of the interventions. A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, Scopus, and PubMed. Included in the review were published studies that evaluated an intervention designed to prevent or reduce obesity in Hispanic children in the frst 1000 days of life. Quality was assessed using the GRADE system. Out of 134 citations that were retrieved, 11 articles underwent full-text review, and 5 articles met study inclusion criteria. Only one study was of high quality, and the rest were of low or moder- ate quality. Three of the studies were lifestyle interventions, and two were educational interventions. Four out of the fve interventions led to signifcant improvements in the out- come measures assessed. Very few published studies tested interventions in the population of Hispanic children ages 0–2 years. Limited evidence does suggest that these inter- ventions may improve behaviors related to factors known to increase the risk for obesity. Future research should focus on designing interventions using common themes observed among successful studies. Further, these studies should also include clinical measures of obesity to further establish their efectiveness. * Ahmed Ismaeel Ahmed_Ismaeel@baylor.edu 1 Nutrition Sciences, Family and Consumer Sciences, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97346, Waco, TX 76798, USA 2 Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76706, USA