Healthy Homes/Healthy Kids_5-9

Overview

The pediatric primary care setting is a relatively untapped resource for addressing obesity prevention. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a relatively low cost pediatric primary-care based obesity prevention intervention. The intervention will consist of brief pediatrician counseling as well as phone coaching for parents with overweight children who are between the ages of five and nine. We propose to enroll and randomize 425 parent-child dyads with children who have a measured body mass index (BMI) the 75th and 95th percentile. They will be randomized one of into two groups, the (a) Healthy Eating/Physical Activity Intervention, or the (b) General Healthy/Safety/Injury Prevention Contact Control Intervention. Both groups will receive brief pediatrician counseling regarding their child's current BMI percentile status and recommendations for home environmental changes to achieve a healthy weight gain trajectory and to improve home safety and reduce injury risk. This will be paired with a 12 month home-based program delivered via phone by health behavior specialists to help parents make environmental changes specific to their group assignment.

The goal of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a relatively low cost pediatric primary-care based intervention that integrates brief pediatric counseling and a home-based phone program to prevent unhealthy weight gain in overweight children ages five-nine. Parent-child dyads will be recruited for the Healthy Homes/Healthy Kids Study via a multi-step process including use of electronic medical record data to identify children, pediatrician approval, and outreach via letters and phone calls. Four hundred and twenty five parent-child dyads from pediatric primary care will be recruited to participate and be randomized to one of two interventions: Healthy Eating/Physical Activity Home-based Intervention: This intervention arm will include brief pediatrician counseling regarding the child's current BMI percentile status, recommendations for home environmental changes to achieve a healthy weight gain trajectory, and home safety and injury risk reduction environmental recommendations paired with a 12 month home-based program delivered via phone by a masters-level health behavior specialist to promote implementation of the obesity prevention home environmental strategies. Safety/Injury Prevention Home-based Contact Control Intervention: This intervention arm will include the same brief counseling from the pediatrician paired with a 12 month home-based program delivered via phone by a masters-level health behavior specialist to promote implementation of the safety and injury prevention home environmental strategies.