A review of implementation and evaluation of Pan American Health Organization's policies to prevent childhood obesity in Latin America

Rationale: To inform future policies, the study objectives were to determine to what extent the policies included in the 5-year Plan of Action for the Prevention of Obesity in Children and Adolescents-proposed by Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and signed by 19 Latin America countries in 2014-have been implemented and evaluated. Methods: A scoping review of the Governmental websites for Latin American countries and a literature review was conducted to identify whether policies have been implemented and evaluated. Key information was abstracted. Results: The review identified 115 PAHO policies/interventions implemented (43% implemented after signing the proposed plan in 2014). Nearly all (18/19) countries implemented food guidelines or school feeding programs, but fiscal and marketing policies were less commonly implemented (6/19). Through the review, 44 evaluations of PAHO policies were identified of which 23% were qualitative and 77% quantitative. The results of these evaluations were in general positive (e.g., decrease in sugar-sweetened beverages consumption following tax implementation) but no studies evaluated the outcome of reduced obesity. Conclusions: PAHO recommended policies have been implemented to various degrees in Latin America since 2014 and more research is required to understand their impacts on child and adolescent obesity.