Effectiveness of interventions involving parents on children's eating behaviours: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundParents play a pivotal role in shaping their childrens food environment and eating behaviours. Involving parents in interventions designed to promote nutritional outcomes, such as dietary intake in children has been shown to improve parental feeding practices. However, it remains unclear how such interventions influence childrens eating behaviour outcomes. This protocol describes the methods of a systematic review evaluating the effectiveness of interventions involving parents in improving the eating behaviours of healthy children aged 0 to 12 years. Methods and analysisElectronic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science will be searched from inception to September 2025. A search strategy is developed to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) directly involving parents and reporting eating behaviours in children as either primary or secondary outcomes. Two independent reviewers will screen identified records and extract data on study, participant and intervention characteristics. Study results relevant to our primary and secondary outcomes will also be extracted using a pre-piloted standardized data extraction form. We will use the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and GRADE approach to assess risk of bias and quality of evidence assessment, respectively. Where possible, meta-analysis using random-effects models will be performed, otherwise a qualitative summary will be provided. Ethics and disseminationEthics approval is not required for this study as no primary data will be collected. The findings will provide valuable insights for stakeholders to inform and optimize public health policies and practices aimed at empowering families to promote healthy eating behaviours early in childhood. The results will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO registration numberCRD420251076540 Strengths and limitations of this studyO_LIThis review will include only randomized controlled trials, which are considered the gold standard for evaluating intervention effectiveness and provide high-quality evidence. C_LIO_LIA comprehensive search strategy across multiple electronic databases and grey literature will be used to identify the existing literature. C_LIO_LIStudy selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment will be conducted independently by two reviewers to enhance reliability and reduce potential bias. C_LIO_LIVariability in intervention components, outcome measures, and follow-up durations may introduce heterogeneity and limit the interpretability of findings. C_LIO_LIExcluding non-randomized studies may result in the omission of potentially relevant evidence from real-world or community-based interventions that lack trial-based designs. C_LI