2020 journal article

Short-Term Effects of an Obesity Prevention Program Among Low-Income Hispanic Families With Preschoolers

JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCATION AND BEHAVIOR, 52(3), 224–239.

By: S. Hughes *, T. Power *, A. Beck *, D. Betz *, L. Goodell  n, V. Hopwood*, J. Jaramillo *, J. Lanigan * ...

author keywords: childhood obesity; prevention program; family-based; child eating self-regulation; child food preferences
MeSH headings : Child; Child, Preschool; Feeding Behavior / psychology; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Promotion / methods; Hispanic or Latino / psychology; Humans; Male; Mothers / psychology; Parent-Child Relations; Pediatric Obesity / prevention & control; Pediatric Obesity / psychology; Poverty; Self Efficacy; Surveys and Questionnaires; Texas; Washington
TL;DR: Short-term effects of an obesity prevention program promoting eating self-regulation and healthy food preferences in low-income Hispanic children highlight the importance of family-focused feeding approaches to combating child overweight and obesity. (via Semantic Scholar)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
Source: Web Of Science
Added: April 6, 2020

Objective To assess the short-term effects of an obesity prevention program promoting eating self-regulation and healthy food preferences in low-income Hispanic children. Design Randomized controlled trial with pretest, posttest, and 6- and 12-month assessments. Setting and Participants Head Start and similar early learning institutions in Houston, TX, and Pasco, WA. A total of 255 families with preschoolers randomized into prevention (n = 136) and control (n = 119) groups. Intervention Multicomponent family-based prevention program. Fourteen waves lasted 7 weeks each with 8–10 mother–child dyads in each group. Main Outcome Measures Parent assessments included feeding practices, styles, and knowledge. Child assessments included child eating self-regulation, willingness to try new foods, and parent report of child fruit and vegetable preferences. Parent and child heights and weights were measured. Analysis Multilevel analyses were employed to consider the nested nature of the data: time points within families within waves. Results The program had predicted effects on parental feeding practices, styles, and knowledge in the pre- to post-comparisons. Effects on child eating behavior were minimal; only the number of different vegetables tried showed significant pre-post differences. Conclusions and Implications Short-term effects of this prevention program highlight the importance of family-focused feeding approaches to combating child overweight and obesity.