Primary care offers a promising setting for promoting parenting practices that shape healthy eating and physical activity behaviors of young children. This study assessed the impact of a parent-based, primary care intervention on the feeding habits, health behaviors, and body mass index (BMI) of 2-5 year olds with elevated or rapidly-increasing BMI. Four private pediatric offices in West Michigan were assigned as control (n=2) or intervention (n=2) sites based on patient load and demographics. Treatment families were recruited at well-child visits to receive physician health-behavior counseling and four visits with a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) over a 6-month period. Outcomes included percent of the 95th BMI percentile (%BMI95), the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity survey (FNPA), and the Feeding Practices and Structure Questionnaire (FPSQ).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
184
Behavioral intervention designed to promote healthy feeding behaviors in parents of 2-5 year olds, and to modify parenting practices in a way that encourages adequate physical activity, sufficient sleep, and healthy nutrition, while limiting sedentary behaviors.
Anthropometry
Age- and sex-specific body mass index such as percent of the 95th BMI percentile
Time frame: Change from baseline to follow-up at 6 months
FNPA
Family Nutrition and Physical Activity screening tool
Time frame: Change from baseline to follow-up at 6 months
FPSQ
Feeding Practices and Structure Questionnaire
Time frame: Change from baseline to follow-up at 6 months
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