Multilevel factors influencing child overweight and obesity in the Pacific Islands
Rachel Novotny, Rica Dela Cruz, Ashley B Yamanaka, Fiorenzo Toncan, Pauline McFall, Courtney C Choy, Olivier Galy, Anthony Okely · 2026
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Description
Novotny and colleagues reviewed in 2026 the many levels of influence on child overweight and obesity in the Pacific Islands. They sorted factors using a social ecological model, which layers influences from the child outward to policy. The review covered studies from the field's start to April 2024. Thirty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria.
Caregiver factors appeared most often, in twenty-two studies, followed by geography and sociocultural factors. Most studies worked at the individual level, then the interpersonal and community levels. No study addressed the policy level at all, a striking gap. Consistent links emerged for modern diets, screen time, mother's body mass index, and public versus private schooling, each tied to higher child weight. The authors map where research clusters and where it is missing for Pacific child health planning.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Rachel Novotny, Rica Dela Cruz, Ashley B Yamanaka, Fiorenzo Toncan, Pauline McFall, Courtney C Choy, Olivier Galy, Anthony Okely |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 46 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |