1. Engaging Children to Support Parental Weight Loss: A Randomized Trial
- Author
-
Winston, Ginger, Sifat, Munjireen, Phillips, Erica, Dietz, William, Wikner, Emily, Barrow, Maya, Khurana, Kunal, and Charlson, Mary
- Abstract
Background: Despite evidence that social network members influence the eating behaviors of adults, no study to date has had the primary aim of examining children as support partners for parents in a weight loss intervention. Aim: To evaluate parent adherence with eating/exercise goals and weight loss in a 6-month study engaging children as support partners. Method: Adults with obesity (body mass index = 30 kg/m2, n = 102) and at least one child =12 years were randomized to a child support or control group. In the child support group, children enrolled with their parent and engaged in a supportive behavior 2 days/week. In the control group, there was no enrolled child support. Parents in both groups selected a healthy eating strategy and daily step goal. Results: There was no difference in weight loss between the child support and control groups (-5.97 vs. -5.42 lbs, p = 0.81). In the child support group, 30% of children did not engage in the study. The majority of parents whose children did not engage withdrew from the study. In secondary analyses, parent adherence with eating/exercise goals increased with the days of child support (p < 0.001). For all participants, low chaos in the home environment (p < 0.04) and increased parent adherence with follow-ups (p < 0.008) predicted weight loss. Conclusions. We found no treatment effect of child support on weight loss. Active child support of eating/exercise goals appeared to facilitate goal adherence, while anticipated but unrealized child support may have had iatrogenic consequences. Further investigation of family-focused weight loss interventions is warranted.
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF