Parents as the Agent of Change for Childhood Obesity
Condition: Obesity
MeSH terms: Obesity; Pediatric Obesity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The overall intent of this study is to explore a promising mode for delivering treatment for
      childhood obesity via parent education only, and to evaluate the cost effectiveness compared
      to the current gold standard treatment of parent-and-child dual education.
    

Detailed description: 
      This study is a randomized clinical trial in which 150 overweight 8-12 year old children and
      their parent will be randomly assigned by the gender of the child to one of two conditions; a
      parent-only intervention or a parent + child intervention. Both treatment arms will provide
      behavioral treatment for childhood obesity for 5 months, and participants will be followed
      for 18-months post-treatment. Assessments will occur at baseline, immediately post-treatment,
      6-12- and 18-months post-treatment. The overall intent of this study is to explore a
      promising mode for delivering treatment for childhood obesity (parent-only), and to evaluate
      the cost effectiveness compared to the current gold standard treatment of parent + child.
      Results of these studies will be utilized as evidence to recommend changes in the standard
      treatment for childhood obesity. This program of research is critical for exploring and
      developing interventions that mobilize parents to intervene with their overweight and obese
      children. The timing of this research is optimal given the increase in childhood obesity in
      the United States, and the need for disseminative intervention and prevention programs.
    

Intervention name(s): Parent-only Group; Parent + Child Group
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Parent-only group will include the same skills and techniques to promote weight loss as given to the parent + child group, but the information will be delivered only to the parent. Parent group will be compared to the parent group of the parent + child treatment arm. The focus will be on implementing skills learned to assist the child in weight management. The treatment length is set for 12 weekly meetings and bi-monthly meetings during months 4 and 5. Each group session will be 60-min including weigh-ins. Group meetings focus on behavior change, weight loss, healthy eating and activity for the overweight child and parent.; The treatment for participants in the parent + child group will be administered in two separate groups, one for the parents and one for the child. Treatment will include the same skills and techniques to promote weight loss as given to the parent-only group, but the information will be delivered to both the parent and child. The treatment length, session schedule, treatment content and follow-up assessments are same as the parent-only group.
Other intervention name(s): Parents as the Agent of Change for Childhood Obesity (PAAC); Parents as the Agent of Change for Childhood Obesity (PAAC)
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: obesity; overweight; overweight children; overweight parents; families with overweight child; body mass index; BMI; weight; childhood obesity; diet; treatment; parent modeling; traffic light diet; stop light diet