Childhood Obesity published four papers highlighting findings from the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research’s (NCCOR) Childhood Obesity Evidence Base (COEB) Project, a collaborative effort between NCCOR and Mission Measurement. The papers are accompanied by commentaries by Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika, Dr. Christina Economos, and Dr. Debra Haire-Joshu. The four articles and two commentaries in this supplement are described below and are available at https://www.nccor.org/childhood-obesity-evidence-base-test-of-a-novel-taxonomic-meta-analytic-method.
- A Rationale for Taxonomic vs. Conventional Meta-Analysis introduces the rationale for a taxonomic meta-analysis of childhood obesity prevention interventions in comparison to a conventional meta-analysis.
- Methods for Taxonomy Development for Application in Taxonomic Meta-Analysis explains the methodology used to generate the taxonomy specific to childhood obesity prevention interventions targeting children ages 2–5, which can be applied to other areas of research, including obesity prevention for other populations.
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of a Taxonomy of Intervention Components to Prevent Obesity in Children 2 to 5 Years of Age, 2005 to 2019 evaluates the efficacy of childhood obesity interventions and applies a taxonomy of intervention components to identify specific components that increase the efficacy of these interventions in their context.
- Building Translational Capacity Through Meta-Analytic Methods highlights COEB contributions to the fields of meta-analysis and prevention of childhood obesity and discusses uses and limitations of the method.
- Learning More from What We Already Know About Childhood Obesity Prevention is a commentary from Shiriki Kumanyika, PhD, MPH, which reflects on the importance and potential implications of the project from a methodological perspective.
- Preventing Obesity in 2-5 Year Olds: A Pathway to Advancing Intervention Research is a commentary from Christina D. Economos, PhD and Debra Haire-Joshu, PhD, which discusses several research design, methods, and implementation areas to improve the efficacy of these interventions.
As a result of the NCCOR COEB Project, a taxonomic-specific database and several other resources were developed, which can be used to examine additional interventions and research in the field. These products are freely available at https://www.nccor.org/childhood-obesity-evidence-base-test-of-a-novel-taxonomic-meta-analytic-method/project-documentation/.
The COEB Project aligns with NCCOR’s efforts to identify and evaluate practical and sustainable interventions as well as facilitate the ability of childhood obesity researchers and program evaluators to conduct research and program evaluation. Learn more about other NCCOR initiatives at www.nccor.org.