Tools For Teen Moms: Reducing Infant Obesity Risk
Condition: Adolescent Mothers; Infant Obesity
MeSH terms: Obesity; Pediatric Obesity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this social media group randomized trial (GRT) is to test the feasibility of
      our Baby Dayr for Teen Moms intervention to increase maternal responsiveness to infant cues
      and implement healthy feeding practices through development of a healthy feeding style.

      Aim 1: Evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the Baby Dayr intervention administered
      to the target population as it relates to their acceptance and satisfaction with the content,
      format, delivery, and use of social media.

      Aim 2: Explore efficacy of the Baby Dayr intervention administered to adolescent mothers of
      infants 4 months of age or less as assessed by maternal responsiveness, feeding style, and
      feeding practices evaluated at the completion of the intervention using self-report methods.
    

Detailed description: 
      Rapid weight gain during infancy is one of the strongest risk factors for obesity later in
      childhood. Weight gain in infancy is closely linked with feeding practices. Unhealthy
      mother-infant feeding practices contribute to rapid and/or excessive infant weight gain.
      Lower-income, adolescent, first-time mothers are less likely to engage in infant-centered
      feeding (ICF) which is characterized by maternal responsiveness (MR), healthy feeding styles
      (FS), and healthy feeding practices (FP). ICF is needed to reduce rapid/excessive weight gain
      during the first six months of life and to foster infant feeding self-regulation that is
      associated with healthy growth. ICF is a critical factor in reducing infant obesity risk and
      later adverse health conditions. Practical early intervention strategies are necessary to
      promote ICF among adolescent mothers to reduce obesity risk. We propose Baby Dayr, a novel
      social media intervention platform designed by the investigators which includes cell phone
      text message reminders, an infant feeding website, and Facebook to increase ICF through daily
      behavioral challenge activities ("challenges") for this population. Because cell phones
      permit natural, frequent and non-intrusive contact as they are not time-or-place-dependent,
      they offer an innovative strategy for intervening with adolescent mothers. However, this
      approach is untested for its feasibility with this population regarding infant feeding
      practices. We propose an exploratory, longitudinal, randomized, two-group study design. The
      three specific aims are: 1) to establish preliminary efficacy of the intervention as assessed
      by infant growth evaluated pre-intervention, immediately post intervention, and when the
      infant is six months old; 2) establish preliminary efficacy of the Baby Dayr plus
      Maternal-Infant Health Program (MIHP) care vs. MIHP care only on infant-centered feeding (MR,
      FS, and FP) mediated by maternal knowledge and self-efficacy; and 3) establish the
      feasibility, acceptability, and satisfaction of a social media intervention (Baby Dayr) for
      low-income adolescent, first-time mothers by assessing: 1) rates of enrollment and completion
      of daily challenges, 2) acceptability ratings of Baby Dayr; and 3) satisfaction with Baby
      Dayr. Participants will be randomly assigned to the intervention (Baby Dayr and MIHP) (n =
      40) or control group (MIHP care only) (n = 40). The intervention consists of six weeks of
      daily challenges and will be delivered starting when the infant is four to six weeks old. The
      study is innovative in its: 1) assessment of ICF to reduce rapid/excessive infant weight gain
      in the first six months of life with low-income, adolescent, first-time mother-infant dyads,
      and 2) combination of an infant-centered skill-building, educational, and coaching approach
      using social media that is accessible and suitable for adolescents. The proposed research is
      significant in that it will contribute to the science related to ICF and knowledge regarding
      use of a social media platform in an at-risk population that can lead to reducing the risk of
      infant obesity. Information gained from this study will be used to refine the intervention
      for use in a larger-scale, longitudinal, randomized, controlled trial to reduce obesity risk
      in infants of low-income, adolescent mothers.
    

Intervention name(s): Tools for Teen Moms
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The Tools for Teen Moms intervention is a novel social media intervention platform designed by the investigators which includes cell phone text message reminders, and infant feeding website, and Facebook to increase infant-centered feeding through daily behavioral challenge activities ("challenges") for this population. The intervention consists of 6 weeks of daily challenges and will be delivered within the infant's first 6 months of life.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Infant; Obesity; Adolescent; Social media; Prevention