None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Existing data indicate that obesity affects individuals as early as the first two years of life and that overweight in infancy strongly predicts overweight in pre-school years and onwards. Thus, starting prevention during infancy appears essential. Despite this, preventive strategies targeting parents with children under the age of two are still in minority. The present research project primarily aims to evaluate the efficacy of a brief, preventive Triple P parenting program (Baby Healthy Living) for parents with 4 to 18 months old children who may be at risk for overweight. The main goal of this intervention is to promote positive feeding practices and empower parents in setting healthy habits in infancy. The study targets families in more vulnerable situations (e.g., single parenthood, lower socio-economic status) who are at increased risk of having overweight or obese children. The intervention may benefit those families the most. If proven effective, such an intervention could make a significant difference in reducing risk factors associated with the early onset of childhood obesity.
Interventions
The intervention consists of one, 2-hour group discussion session, Positive Parenting for Baby Healthy Living, designed to target the direct and indirect pathways of parenting impact on infant obesity outcomes i.e. feeding practices, parenting practices, parents’ beliefs and knowledge, and parenting confidence and stress. The content draws on the theoretical principles that form the basis of Triple P, and is designed to be interactive and provide opportunities for discussion.
The Baby Healthy
The intervention consists of one, 2-hour group discussion session, Positive Parenting for Baby Healthy Living, designed to target the direct and indirect pathways of parenting impact on infant obesity outcomes i.e. feeding practices, parenting practices, parents’ beliefs and knowledge, and parenting confidence and stress. The content draws on the theoretical principles that form the basis of Triple P, and is designed to be interactive and provide opportunities for discussion. The Baby Healthy Living session focuses on providing parents with strategies that empower them to promote effectively good habits in their baby by having realistic expectations of their child and themselves, encouraging their baby’s self-regulation, setting early age appropriate limits and reducing stress. The session begins by exploring the challenges of being a parent in our society and discussing strategies to raise a healthy baby. The principles of positive parenting are then introduced as a way to promote babies’ healthy development (e.g. eating, sleeping, getting active) and manage infants’ behaviour and emotions in a constructive way. Finally, parents learn about coping strategies to manage stress. Parents in the intervention receive a workbook and view a set of slides including short video segments. Detailed resources including a presentation guide and a session checklist are followed by the practitioner to guide them in delivering the session.
Sponsors
Agnes Gelmini
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
0 to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
To be eligible to participate in the study, parents have to meet two (2) or more of the following inclusion criteria, which are all risk factors associated with infant obesity: (i) Single parent; (ii) Parent is concerned about feeding their baby or their child’s behaviour at mealtimes; (iii) Parent introduced solid food before their baby was 4 months of age; (iv) Parent usually has the TV on during mealtimes and/or when feeding their baby; (v) Parent whose highest level of education is high school or less; (vi) Parent whose occupation is labourer, sales worker or machinery operator/driver; (vii) Parent whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is greater than or equal to 25 (overweight or obese); (viii) Child whose weight for length (WFL) ratio is greater than or equal to the 85th percentile (overweight or obese).
Exclusion criteria
The exclusion criteria include: (i) Child is below 4 months or over 18 months of age; (ii) Child was born preterm; (iii) Parents are currently seeing a professional for the child’s behaviours difficulties; (iv) Parents are currently receiving psychological help or counselling; (v) Child has developmental disorder or delay; or (vi) Parent (or partner) has difficulties reading newspaper
Outcome results
None listed