Childhood Obesity Treatment Targeting Specific Behaviors

Childhood Obesity Clinical Trial

Official title:

Childhood Obesity Treatment Targeting Specific Behaviors

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00259324
• Other study ID #: 1-R21-DK07491901
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: November 28, 2005
• Last updated: April 19, 2012
• Start date: September 2005
• Est. completion date: February 2009

Study information

• Verified date: December 2007
• Source: The Miriam Hospital
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Food and Drug Administration
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The US is in the midst of an obesity epidemic, affecting young children. The pediatric primary care setting is an ideal place to address this problem since most families have frequent contact with their pediatrician and a child's health status is regularly assessed in this setting. Recommendations for treating children with a body mass index (BMI) over the 85th percentile in the primary care setting have been developed by an Expert Committee on childhood. Programs are needed that meet the recommendations from the Committee, which include: 1) beginning treatment as young as possible; 2) focusing on the family, with the parent being the primary change agent for treatment; 3) using behavior modification techniques to change eating and activity behaviors; and 4) making 2 or 3 very specific changes in diet and activity at one time. Thus, the aim of this R21 application is to develop, implement, and evaluate a 6-month behavioral childhood obesity intervention that meets the Committee's recommendations and can be implemented in a primary care setting. A second aim of this project is to determine which eating and activity behaviors should be targeted in the intervention. One hundred thirty-five children, aged 4 to 9 years with a BMI > 85th percentile, assessed and referred by their pediatricians, will be randomized to one of three conditions: 1) a newsletter condition; 2) a Behavioral Parenting Program that increases physical activity (60 min/day) and decreases sweetened drink consumption (< 3 servings/week) (Traditional); or 3) a Behavioral Parenting Program that reduces TV watching (< 2 hours/day) and increases low-fat milk consumption (2 servings/day) (Substitutes). Follow-up assessments on weight, height, and standardized BMI (z-BMI), the primary dependent variable, will be conducted at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Pediatricians will provide follow-up letters to families, regarding weight and height status, following the assessments. This pilot study allows us to determine the feasibility and efficacy of a pediatric obesity intervention that optimizes the role of the pediatrician and meets the Committee's recommendations for treatment in a primary care setting. Moreover, by comparing the effects of targeting the traditional or substitute behaviors, data will be obtained for a power analysis for a full-scale trial of the effects of these two approaches on long-term weight loss.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 81
• Est. completion date: February 2009
• Est. primary completion date: February 2009
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 4 Years to 9 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• 1) Age between 4 and 9 years. We propose to use this age group since parents are in control of the eating and exercise choices of such children, and thus a program that focuses on parenting behaviors (i.e., positive reinforcement, stimulus control, parental modeling) should be developmentally appropriate. This age group also meets the Expert Committee's goal of intervening early5; moreover children aged 4 to 8 years have similar nutritional needs.

2) Body mass index (BMI) > 85th percentile BMI. Based upon the Expert Committee recommendations,5 children > 2 years of age who are identified as being at risk for overweight (85th to 94th percentile BMI) or overweight (> 95th percentile BMI) should focus on weight maintenance as height continues to increase. These recommendations are aimed at reducing z-BMI.

3) Tanner stage 1 (prepubertal) sexual maturation status. 4) Self-report at least one of the following problematic behaviors:

1. Consume > 1 serving of sweetened drink per day.

2. Consume < 2 servings of low-fat milk per day.

3. Watch > 2 hours of TV per day.

4. Engage in physical activity that makes them sweat or breath hard < 5 days per week.

These behaviors have been selected because each has been associated with childhood obesity.

5) A parent willing to attend treatment meetings. 6) Parent and child speak English.

Exclusion Criteria:

Participants will be excluded if they:

1. Report a family member participating in another weight loss program.

2. Report that the child or parent planning to attend the treatment meetings has a major psychiatric disease or organic brain syndrome.

3. Report that the child or parent planning to attend the treatment meetings has dietary or physical activity restrictions.

4. Intend to move outside of the metropolitan area within the time frame of the investigation.

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Single Blind (Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Childhood Obesity
• Obesity
• Pediatric Obesity

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Diet and Activity
Diet and Activity

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	The Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center	Providence	Rhode Island

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
The Miriam Hospital	National Institutes of Health (NIH), University of Tennessee

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Z-BMI in children		12 months	No
Secondary	Eating and activity behaviors		12 months	No