Quincy Family, Youth & Technology For Lifestyle Change (FYT-4-LIFE) Study
| Status: | Completed |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Obesity Weight Loss |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Endocrinology |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 3 - 7 |
| Updated: | 10/14/2017 |
| Start Date: | July 2014 |
| End Date: | February 2015 |
To date, approaches that show the most promise for preventing and/or reversing the course of
childhood obesity involve the delivery of intensive lifestyle interventions within a
family-based context, emphasizing the necessity of parental involvement and making changes in
family routines and the home environment. Considering that the current demand for pediatric
weight management programs far exceed availability, as well as the high attrition rates
observed in such programs, there is a great need for more accessible and efficient means of
delivering these interventions to reduce the burden of childhood obesity.
The goal of this study is to understand whether text messaging and social media platforms can
be leveraged to address the important issue of childhood obesity by engaging parent/guardians
in one of these strategies, and whether these strategies produce similar outcomes. No
existing study has compared these strategies head-to-head, and the investigators believe that
this project will be instrumental in understanding the determinants of success in these
strategies and allow us to collect sufficient intelligence to be able to deploy these
meaningfully to patients as part of usual care.
childhood obesity involve the delivery of intensive lifestyle interventions within a
family-based context, emphasizing the necessity of parental involvement and making changes in
family routines and the home environment. Considering that the current demand for pediatric
weight management programs far exceed availability, as well as the high attrition rates
observed in such programs, there is a great need for more accessible and efficient means of
delivering these interventions to reduce the burden of childhood obesity.
The goal of this study is to understand whether text messaging and social media platforms can
be leveraged to address the important issue of childhood obesity by engaging parent/guardians
in one of these strategies, and whether these strategies produce similar outcomes. No
existing study has compared these strategies head-to-head, and the investigators believe that
this project will be instrumental in understanding the determinants of success in these
strategies and allow us to collect sufficient intelligence to be able to deploy these
meaningfully to patients as part of usual care.
The goal of this pilot study is to evaluate and compare the feasibility and effectiveness of
two platforms, text messaging and Facebook, for delivering an evidence-based, family-centric
childhood obesity intervention to parent/guardians of children between the ages of 3-6 with a
BMI of 90th percentile and above. The investigators hypothesize that the use of both
platforms for delivering a childhood obesity intervention will help establish healthier
family routines and be equally engaging and accepted by parent/guardians and children.
The primary aim of this study is to assess the effect of the intervention on:
- Parent/guardian knowledge of healthy family routines (i.e., nutrition, frequency of
family meals, child's screen time, bedtime routines, physical activity, and sleep hours)
and of parenting strategies that are preventive of child overweight and obesity
- Parent/guardian readiness, confidence, and perceived self-efficacy to make and maintain
changes in family routines known to be associated with healthy weight outcomes
The secondary aims of the study are to assess the effect of the intervention on:
- The adoption of healthy family routines and parenting strategies that are preventive of
child overweight and obesity
- Daily objective physical activity in the index child by accelerometry (using a physical
activity tracking device)
- Index children's BMI percentile, using data collected during regular clinic visits from
the electronic medical record
- To assess the level of engagement with the intervention, measured via daily activity
tracker wear by the index child, parent/guardian views of Facebook posts or responses to
2-way text messages
two platforms, text messaging and Facebook, for delivering an evidence-based, family-centric
childhood obesity intervention to parent/guardians of children between the ages of 3-6 with a
BMI of 90th percentile and above. The investigators hypothesize that the use of both
platforms for delivering a childhood obesity intervention will help establish healthier
family routines and be equally engaging and accepted by parent/guardians and children.
The primary aim of this study is to assess the effect of the intervention on:
- Parent/guardian knowledge of healthy family routines (i.e., nutrition, frequency of
family meals, child's screen time, bedtime routines, physical activity, and sleep hours)
and of parenting strategies that are preventive of child overweight and obesity
- Parent/guardian readiness, confidence, and perceived self-efficacy to make and maintain
changes in family routines known to be associated with healthy weight outcomes
The secondary aims of the study are to assess the effect of the intervention on:
- The adoption of healthy family routines and parenting strategies that are preventive of
child overweight and obesity
- Daily objective physical activity in the index child by accelerometry (using a physical
activity tracking device)
- Index children's BMI percentile, using data collected during regular clinic visits from
the electronic medical record
- To assess the level of engagement with the intervention, measured via daily activity
tracker wear by the index child, parent/guardian views of Facebook posts or responses to
2-way text messages
Inclusion Criteria:
- Index child's BMI ≥90th percentile
- Index child age between 3 and 7 years of age at time of enrollment in study
- The child is under the care of a primary care provider at the Quincy Pediatric
Associates practice
- The family is not planning to move from the Greater Boston area during the study
period
The participating parent/guardian:
- Is 18 years or older
- Is the primary caregiver for the child
- Has regular access to the Internet
- Has regular access to a personal computer with USB connection OR a smartphone with a
mobile operating system that is compatible with the physical activity tracker
- Owns a Facebook account AND a cellphone with text messaging capability and if choosing
the text-messaging intervention, is willing to receive a maximum of 62 text
messages/month for 3 months on their personal cellphone
- Is fluent in English (spoken and written)
Exclusion Criteria:
- Children who are diagnosed with underlying medical or pharmacologic factors that may
contribute to obesity and/or affect participation in physical activity
- Significant medical or psychiatric co-morbidities in the participating parent/guardian
- Visual, hearing, or cognitive impairments in the participating parent/guardian
- Index child or parent/guardian currently enrolled in another weight control program
- Children who have a sibling already enrolled in the study
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