A scoping review on the use of a participatory approach in interventions to combat overweight and obesity in low socioeconomic status communities

Purpose: The burden of obesity on individuals and society has received much attention. However, most interventions to combat obesity as well as reviews focus on a (bio)medical approach. Applying an interdisciplinary approach that includes participation of the most heavily burdened low-socioeconomic status (SES) groups, are scarce. The purpose of this scoping review is to identify the characteristics and achievements of studies that applied a participatory approach to inform future development of interventions aiming to reduce obesity among low SES communities. Method: We conducted a scoping review on interventions or initiatives aiming at obesity among groups with low-SES that apply a participatory approach, i.e. that involve the target population throughout the process. Results: 4246 papers were identified and screening of abstracts resulted in 37 eligible papers, resulting in 12 included papers after full-text screening. Among them, 9/12 derived from US; 7/12 were theory-based; 8/12 targeted individuals; 7/12 applied a CBPR protocol; 6/12 were participatory in the development, implementation, assessment, and evaluation phase; 4/12 applied an RCT for impact assessment and 1/12 used solely qualitative methods. 9/11 studies observed a reduction in weight/BMI. Discussion/conclusion: Participatory approaches to inform and execute interventions to tackle obesity in low SES communities is an emerging approach. The findings show that it is feasible to co-create context-sensitive interventions, that can be beneficial on obesity outcomes, by combining theory and expertise by experience.