Shaghayegh Jamshidi - Student Research Committee, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran
Fatemeh Aliakbari - Department of Nursing, School of Nursing, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran

Introduction: Early childhood nutrition can play an important role in creating a healthy foundation forchildren's growth and development. Childhood obesity is recognized as a global public health problem. Also,increasing obesity rates due to unwanted and unhealthy eating during childhood leads to serious health problemsthroughout life. This systematic review was conducted with the aim of investigating the role of early childhoodnutrition in the prevention of childhood obesity and the available evidence was reviewed.Methods: A systematic and comprehensive search of relevant studies published between ۲۰۱۵ and ۲۰۲۳ wasconducted in major databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The searchstrategy included keywords related to nutrition, pediatrics, children, obesity to select articles that focused onexamining the relationship between early nutrition and obesity prevention, targeting children in the first ۱۰۰۰days. Data extraction and quality assessment were performed using a predefined protocol. During this specificprotocol, similar and duplicate articles were removed and after careful review, articles that met the inclusioncriteria were included in the study. Data were extracted and analyzed considering the study design, sample size,socio-economic indicators, intervention approaches and outcomes.Results: A total of ۱۱ studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review. Thissystematic review shows that early childhood nutrition in the first ۱۰۰۰ days of life can play an effective role inpreventing obesity in children. Breastfeeding, balanced and appropriate consumption of complementary foodsand providing suitable hygienic conditions for eating are effective factors in reducing the risk of obesity inchildren. In addition, economic and social barriers, including the possibility of access to healthy food, relevantand adequate education, the level of education and family income, play a vital role in achieving proper primarynutrition and preventing childhood obesity.Conclusion: According to the obtained results, it can be concluded that early childhood nutrition plays asignificant role in preventing childhood obesity. In addition, social and economic factors should also beconsidered in programs and policies related to improving basic nutrition and preventing childhood obesity. Tofacilitate progress in this area, more research is needed on the effectiveness of specific childhood nutritioninterventions and the role of social and economic factors.

Nutrition, pediatrics, obesity, children