SynthesisObesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity2025
The impact of early childhood education and care-based interventions on child physical activity, anthropometrics, fundamental movement skills, cognitive functioning, and social-emotional wellbeing: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The impact of early childhood education and care-based interventions on child physical activity, anthropometrics, fundamental movement skills, cognitive functioning, and social-emotional wellbeing: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Pooled it
- Reviewing the association between motor competence and physical activity from a behavioral genetic perspective.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Fundamental motor skill interventions significantly improve executive functions and social-emotional competence in preschoolers: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of a teacher-led social cognitive theory-based multicomponent movement education program on preschoolers' fundamental movement skills and physical activity: the PA-REALITY cluster-randomized controlled trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Trial
- Getting an Active Start: Assessing the Impact of a Physical Literacy-Based Intervention on Preschool-Aged Children's Fundamental Movement Skills, Motor Competency and Behavioral Self-Regulation.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Trial
- Creating healthy habits for Maryland preschoolers (CHAMP): a cluster-randomized controlled trial among childcare centers.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Trial
- Evidence Mapping: Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Practice Elements in Early Childhood Education and Care.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2026Article
- Associations Between Body Mass Index, Movement Behaviors, Motor Skills, Inhibition and Visuospatial Working Memory in Preschool Children: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on WHO References.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of an environmental nutrition and physical activity intervention in early childhood education and care settings (NAPSACC UK): a multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026Article
- Health-behavior intervention increases sedentary breaks in children aged 0-5 years: evidence from the Melbourne Infant Feeding, Activity and Nutrition Trial.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water: next steps for child obesity prevention in early life.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Effect of a Community-Based Program on Preschoolers' Physical Activity and Nutrition in Chile.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- A cross-sectional study assessing barriers and facilitators to the sustainability of physical activity and nutrition interventions in early childhood education and care settings.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
This review assessed the effectiveness of ECEC-based interventions to improve child physical activity, and intervention impact on child weight-based anthropometrics, fundamental movement skills (FMS), cognitive functioning, and social-emotional wellbeing. Adverse effects and costs were assessed. Finch et al's 2014 systematic review was updated. Electronic databases were searched 10 September 2014 to 27 October 2022. Included studies were randomized controlled trials of ECEC interventions targeting physical activity among children aged 0-6 years. The methodological quality of studies was assessed using Cochrane's Risk of Bias tool v2. Standardized mean differences (SMD) were calculated for each outcome with meta-analysis undertaken; otherwise, findings were described narratively. Fifty-three studies were included. ECEC-based interventions were found to significantly improve child physical activity (SMD 0.193, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.09 to 0.3; p < 0.001) and FMS (SMD 0.544, 95% CI 0.1 to 0.98; p = 0.015), compared to control. Small positive, but non-significant, effects were found for weight-based anthropometrics, cognitive functioning, and social-emotional wellbeing. Few studies reported adverse effects (n = 10), and no studies reported formal economic analyses. While ECEC-based interventions can significantly improve child physical activity and FMS, further evidence of their impact on cognitive functioning, social-emotional wellbeing, and the cost-effectiveness of such interventions is required to inform policy and practice.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.