Family Empowerment for Enhanced Development

Children have not been spared from the obesity epidemic. There is a great need for innovative
interventions to help families build healthy habits early in life for obesity prevention.
Low-income preschoolers have a disproportionately high rate of childhood obesity, and their
families face complex barriers to healthy behavior change. This proposed pilot study will
examine the feasibility of delivering the Promoting Routines of Exploration and Play during
Mealtime (Mealtime PREP) intervention in a sample of low-income families with young children
(ages 2-5). Our parent-mediated intervention is designed to promote healthy dietary variety
using routine family meals, positive reinforcement, social modeling, and food exploration and
play. By harnessing the behavior change capacity of behavioral activation to alter daily
mealtimes incrementally, parents are empowered to overcome barriers to healthy habit
formation. Each family will participate in a six-week intervention that is delivered by
occupational therapy clinicians in the home environment. Each session will last approximately
one hour and include individualized parent-training and a parent-led mealtime with direct
feedback from the clinician.

Inclusion Criteria:

Child:

- within age range 2-5 years

- reside in a low-income household (as specified by income within the range to qualify
for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

Parent:

- >18 years old

- ability to read and speak in English

- willing to participate in 6 home-based intervention sessions

Exclusion Criteria: