Intervention for the Prevention of Obesity in Preschool
Condition: Childhood Obesity
MeSH terms: Obesity; Pediatric Obesity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to develop, implement and evaluate an intervention focused to
      change feeding practices and patterns of physical activity of preschool children through
      providing motivational counseling to the mother. The aim is to prevent obesity in children
      aged 2 to 4 years 11 months with risk of overweight or with overweight.
    

Detailed description: 
      Obesity has a multi-causal origin in which participate, in a similar way, the individual
      behavior and family and community contexts and the social environment.

      Participation of primary care services is key to solve the problem. These services have the
      possibility to detect timely children with high body mass index, and to promote behavior to
      improve feeding practices and physical activity in both, the child and his family.

      The study is divided in two stages:

        1. Design of the intervention. The researchers will use qualitative methods to evaluate
           feeding practices, physical activity and the environment in which such behaviors are
           generated. In a similar way the care provided by health professionals to overweight and
           obese children it will be evaluated; this includes the perception that health providers
           have about this problem. The information will allow identifying risk behavior and
           healthy behavior, facilitators and obstacles to receive care. The results will serve to
           define the contents of the intervention.

        2. Intervention: The study will take place in four family medicine clinics belonging to the
           Mexican Institute of Social Security. Two clinics will receive the intervention and two
           will serve as control. In each clinic, fifty children and their mothers will be
           recruited. At the intervention clinics, the group of mothers will participate in seven
           weekly sessions and in two individual sessions at 3 and 6 months after the group
           sessions finish. During the sessions, the researchers will motivate the mothers to
           change feeding practices and encourage physical exercise of the children and family,
           this will improve the chance for their children for healthy growing. The control group
           will receive the usual care that consists only in the recommendations that the family
           doctor provides.

      The evaluation of the study comprise feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and
      its effect in the behavior of the mothers in terms of changing feeding practices and
      practicing physical exercise.
    

Intervention name(s): Eating and physical activity counseling
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The parents of overweight children will be invited to attend a total of 6 group sessions (the group will be comprised of 6 children with their parents) on a weekly basis, in which 5 aspects will be dealt with 1) Dietary culture, risk-benefit practices, 2) The process of feeding (acquisition/preparation/service Eating behaviors), 3) Physical activity habits, 4) Importance of weighing/measuring oneself and its meaning, 5) feedback and evaluations. These aspects and contents will be distributed throughout the 6 sessions.
There will be two more individual session, at 3 and 6 months respectively, for the reinforcement of recommendations provided for the modification of dietary behaviors and physical activity.
Other intervention name(s): Nutritional intervention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Nutritional intervention; Childhood obesity; Physical activity; Feeding practices