Unpacking the behavioural components and delivery features of early childhood obesity prevention interventions in the TOPCHILD Collaboration: a systematic review and intervention coding protocol

Abstract

IntroductionLittle is known about how early (eg, commencing antenatally or in the first 12 months after birth) obesity prevention interventions seek to change behaviour and which components are or are not effective. This study aims to (1) characterise early obesity prevention interventions in terms of target behaviours, delivery features and behaviour change techniques (BCTs), (2) explore similarities and differences in BCTs used to target behaviours and (3) explore effectiveness of intervention components in preventing childhood obesity.Methods and analysisAnnual comprehensive systematic searches will be performed in Epub Ahead of Print/MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane (CENTRAL), CINAHL, PsycINFO, as well as clinical trial registries. Eligible randomised controlled trials of behavioural interventions to prevent childhood obesity commencing antenatally or in the first year after birth will be invited to join the Transforming Obesity in CHILDren Collaboration. Standard ontologies will be used to code target behaviours, delivery features and BCTs in both published and unpublished intervention materials provided by trialists. Narrative syntheses will be performed to summarise intervention components and compare applied BCTs by types of target behaviours. Exploratory analyses will be undertaken to assess effectiveness of intervention components.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by The University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee (project no. 2020/273) and Flinders University Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee (project no. HREC CIA2133-1). The study’s findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and targeted communication with key stakeholders.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020177408.

Transforming Obesity Prevention for CHILDren (TOPCHILD) Collaboration: protocol for a systematic review with individual participant data meta-analysis of behavioural interventions for the prevention of early childhood obesity

“…This IPD meta-analysis will be conducted in parallel with a complementary TOPCHILD project (Johnson et al 75 unpublished), which aims to deconstruct childhood obesity interventions into their components (ie, delivery features, target behaviours and behaviour change techniques) using systematic, internationally recognised frameworks and both published and unpublished trial materials. In future, the resulting dataset curated from these two projects will be used for predictive modelling of intervention component effectiveness at an individual participant level, facilitating a personalised or precision medicine approach to public health prevention.…”

The Complex Quest of Preventing Obesity in Early Childhood: Describing Challenges and Solutions Through Collaboration and Innovation

“…Cross-discipline communication is complicated, and resources and skills are required to coordinate big and diverse project teams. Fortunately, there are a range of positive examples showing successful collaboration is possible, including the EPOCH Collaboration, the TOPCHILD Collaboration, and the HeLTI Consortium (15,16,54,69). Importantly, all of these large collaborations were awarded competitive grants to support their resource-intensive coordination, underlining the importance of public funding schemes to support coordinated approaches.…”

“…These models can quantitatively explore which intervention components are associated with effectiveness, compared with usual care, particularly for priority population groups. This me thodology is being appl ie d in the TO PCHILD Collaboration 1 , where trial investigators around the world are working together to find the best interventions for different population groups (16,54). Importantly, these quantitative methods should be combined with qualitative information obtained from close collaboration with key stakeholders on the types of components that are feasible, scalable and cost-effective.…”

Examining the sustainability of effects of early childhood obesity prevention interventions: Follow‐up of the EPOCH individual participant data prospective meta‐analysis

“…To address this, we have extended the EPOCH Collaboration to incorporate a global perspective. The TOPCHILD Collaboration (http://www.topchildcollaboration.org) aims to bring together more than 70 trials addressing the early prevention of childhood obesity worldwide, with a combined sample size of greater than 50 000 participants, to find the most effective, least‐resource intensive interventions 44,45 . Using an innovative combination of methods, the Collaboration will be able to determine the effectiveness of discrete intervention components, including delivery features, behaviour change techniques, and promising obesity‐preventive target behaviours such as sleep.…”