Promoting The Self-Regulation Of Energy Intake

Baylor College of Medicine255 enrolled

Overview

The goal of this study is to develop and test the efficacy of a scientifically-based, culturally competent seven-session parent directed, obesity prevention program focused on parental feeding strategies that support young children's self-regulation of intake.

The intervention program was developed and piloted. Expected outcomes: At the end of the intervention program, it is expected that parents in the intervention group will: 1) use more child-centered (e.g., repeated presentation of new foods, involvement in food preparation) and less parent-centered feeding directives; 2) be less likely to show an indulgent and more likely to show an authoritative feeding style (feeding responsiveness); 3) show lower scores on restriction and pressure to eat and higher scores on monitoring; and 4) demonstrate higher levels of food knowledge (e.g., best feeding practices, reduced feeding misconceptions). Children in the intervention group are expected to: 1) show more willingness to try new foods, and 2) show increased self-regulation of energy intake. At the end of the interventions, children are expected to show greater consumption of fruits and vegetables (including consuming a wider variety of fruits and vegetables). All effects are expected to continue through the 6- and 12-month follow-ups, although the effects sizes will diminish. Although we do not expect effects on BMI after 6 weeks, we expect to see decreases in children's BMI percentiles by the 6- and 12-month follow-ups for the intervention group-especially for the top 25% of the BMI percentile range. No parental BMI effects are expected.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

255

Conditions

Obesity

Interventions

Parent and child groups focused on self-regulation of eatingBEHAVIORAL

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 3 YearsMax age: 6 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Parents whose children attend Head Start with the sample of children equally split on gender and ethnicity, * with representation from ages 3 to 6 years. Exclusion Criteria: * Parents and children who have any kind of food allergies or diabetes or are on special diets will be excluded from the study.

Locations (2)

Baylor College of Medicine

Houston, Texas, United States

Thomas G. Power

Pullman, Washington, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Children's BMI Percentiles

Measured child height and weight data were collected. Two height and weight measures were averaged for each child. Age- and gender-specific BMI z-scores for each child were calculated. Children were classified into healthy weight (5th to \<85th percentile), overweight (≥85th to \<95th percentile), and obese (≥95th percentile) according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards.

Time frame: 12-month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes

Parental Feeding Behaviors

Questionnaire data (parent-report). Subscale scores from the Food Parenting Inventory and Feeding Knowledge Questionnaire were used to measure secondary outcomes. All scales included response categories ranging from 1 to 5. Higher scores were considered better on the following subscales: repeated presentation of new foods; measured child portion sizes; child involvement in food preparation; feeding responsiveness; knowledge of best feeding practices; feeding efficacy. Lower scores were considered better on the subscale of feeding misconceptions.

Time frame: 12-month follow-up

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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