Behavior Change Family Counseling to Reduce Rate of Weight Gain in At-Risk Children

April 6, 2015 updated by: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Primary Care Obesity Prevention: One or Multiple Targets

This study will train primary care providers to counsel families on behavior change that is aimed at reducing the rate of weight gain in at-risk children.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND:

In addition to family, school, and community, primary care is a promising setting for childhood obesity prevention. However, most pediatric primary care providers are not trained to deliver behavior modification interventions and, according to preliminary data, are less likely to address obesity prevention when they perceive insufficient time during well-care visits.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

This is a controlled study of obesity prevention, with group randomization of two standardized 12-month intervention strategies at the practice level. The intervention strategies are based on the behavioral economics theory and will be delivered by primary care providers after training in behavior modification. The first strategy will target change in multiple behaviors, while the second strategy will target only one behavior (beverage consumption). These two interventions will be compared to an active control intervention that is unrelated to weight (bullying prevention). Six to seven primary care practices will be randomized to each arm with 21 patients per practice, for a total of 17 practices and 350 patients. The primary aim is to demonstrate that either obesity prevention intervention will result in less body mass index (BMI) increase (adjusted using z-score) in children age 8 to 12 years who are at risk for overweight (BMI 50th-95th percentile), as compared to a control intervention. The study also hypothesizes that the multiple-behavior intervention, the single-behavior intervention, or both will result in less adjusted BMI increase than the control intervention at 24 months post-randomization, with no a priori assumption in differences between the two obesity prevention strategies. Blood pressure, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and oral health status will be secondary outcomes. Intermediate behavioral outcomes and process data will be collected.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

158

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

8 years to 12 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Sought care at the participating practices at least once in the 3 years prior to study entry
  • Children "at risk for overweight" at their last clinical visit (according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] definition of a BMI at or above the 50th percentile, but less than the 95th percentile)
  • Children who consume at least 28 oz of sweetened beverages per week (i.e., an average of 4 oz per day) as assessed during the telephone screening by selected components of a validated food frequency questionnaire
  • The following conditions will be acceptable if they have been well controlled in the 3 months prior to study entry: hypertension, dyslipidemia, sleep apnea, asthma, and insulin resistance without diabetes

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Developmental delay requiring special education
  • Depression
  • Psychosis
  • Eating disorder
  • Significant orthopedic problems interfering with physical activity
  • Diabetes
  • Any significant chronic condition potentially interfering with nutrition or physical activity
  • Treated with a drug known to affect weight gain
  • Measured BMI z-score at first visit higher than +2.0 Standard Deviations (97.7th percentile)
  • Families who are uninterested or unable to participate
  • Home-schooled

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Healthy Lifestyle (Active Intervention)
Parents and children in this program which will participate in a series of consultations and activities focused on multiple healthy interventions including healthy eating, drinking, and physical activity. The children will participate in a variety of age-appropriate games, activities and exercises that are focused on healthy eating, drinking, and physical activity. In addition, your child will receive information on developing healthy interpersonal and social skills.
Focused on multiple behaviors (nutrition, beverages, physical activity, and sedentary lifestyle) which may have a significant impact on weight.
Other: Healthy Drinks (Active Intervention)
Parents and children in this program will participate in a series of consultations and activities focused on a single intervention, the effects of beverage choices on diet, general health and teeth health. The children will participate in a variety of age-appropriate games, activities and exercises that are focused on beverages and health. In addition, your child will receive information on healthy nutrition, physical activity, and interpersonal and social skills.
Focused on changing beverage choices which may have a significant impact on weight.
Other Names:
  • Focused on changing beverage choices with the goal
Other: Social and Leadership Skills (Control Intervention)
Parents and children in this program will participate in a series of consultations that are designed to help your child learn strategies to make and keep friends, to express feelings appropriately, and to successfully decrease conflicts that often occur at school among children. The children will participate in a variety of age-appropriate games, activities and exercises that are focused on these friendship making strategies. In addition, your child will receive information on healthy nutrition and physical activity. There is o intervention with regards to healthy weight.
Focused on standard intervention strategies unrelated to weight including bullying prevention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Changes in BMI z-score
Time Frame: Measured at Month 12
Measured at Month 12

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Stephen Leff, PhD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2006

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 17, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 17, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

October 19, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 7, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2015

Last Verified

April 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2005-7-4442
  • R01HL084056 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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