Smart and Secure Children Program for Preschool Obesity (SSC)

Thirty (30) subjects will be enrolled across three (3) TCP clinics where the study will take place. Two types of participants will be recruited for this study: parent participants who will receive the intervention and interventionist participants who will deliver the intervention.

Data collected for this study includes 4 types: parent-report questionnaires, parent saliva samples, parent-report of children's 24-hour food recall, and audio-recordings of intervention sessions. Parent-report questionnaires will assess family demographic information, parental stress, depression, and well-being as well as parental feeding practices and child dietary food patterns.

Procedures for Parent Participants:

Parents will be randomized to the intervention (Group A-15 parents) or control condition (Group B-15 parents). Parents who are randomized to the intervention group will then participate in the 10-session SSC program that is co-led by a trained parent interventionist. Sessions will be audio-recorded to allow intervention fidelity checks. Parents who are randomized to the control condition will receive the SSC written handouts, which is enhanced standard of care for parents who are seen in primary care.

If subjects are assigned to Group A, they will participate in ten intervention sessions that are conducted in the TCP clinic. During each session, subjects will be provided with information about specific skills to improve their child's emotional health and dietary patterns and their own stress levels.

If subjects are assigned to Group B, they will receive written handouts about children's dietary patterns and parent stress levels. They will be instructed to write goals and document goal progress. This care plan is the standard practice and is presently implemented in the site's TCP clinics.

After ten weeks, regardless of the group the subjects were assigned to, they will again complete an interview about their child's dietary food patterns and questionnaires about their own emotions/opinions of their parenting and child feeding practices. The subjects will also be asked to collect their saliva at four time points on a single day at home.

Procedures for Interventionist Participants:

Six interventionist participants will be recruited. Those who indicate interest will meet with the PI or a research staff member to obtain consent. They will then receive 40-hours of training in the intervention provided by study staff. Intervention participants will deliver one or more group intervention, which has 10 sessions.