Background:

There is a growing increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the child population and initiatives for their prevention and control are multiplying.

Objective:

To characterize the interventions in child obesity published in recent scientific literature.

Materials and Methods:

A systematic review of quantitative empirical research on interventions in child obesity was carried out in the Web of Science, Scopus and Scielo databases between the years 2013 and 2019. A total of 30 articles describing 30 different interventions were selected.

Results:

The interventions were mainly focused on promoting a healthy diet and physical exercise, with an emphasis on reducing body weight and anthropometric measures as the main outcome variables. The duration was concentrated between 4 and 6 months and they were developed mainly in school contexts.

Conclusions:

The studies agree on the importance of addressing the problem at an individual, group and community level and ensuring the relevance of the interventions based on the social and cultural specificity of the target group. Challenges persist in relation to the design of theoretically-based interventions, promoting adherence to programs, and extending follow-up periods to determine their long-term effectiveness.

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