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Starting Early to Prevent Obesity Using Telehealth (StEP OUT): Pilot RCT

Starting Early to Prevent Obesity Using Telehealth (StEP OUT): Pilot RCT

Status
Recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT07254065
Enrollment
130
Registered
2025-11-28
Start date
2025-11-14
Completion date
2028-06-30
Last updated
2025-11-28

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Feasibility and Acceptability, Prevention Childhood Obesity

Brief summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to test an online program that teaches healthy habits during pregnancy and infant to prevent early child obesity in Latino families. Specifically, this pilot trial will determine how well we can deliver and test the effects of the program, and how acceptable it is to participants. The main question it aims to answer are: • Is a randomized controlled trial of StEP OUT versus infant safety education control feasible to conduct and acceptable to participants? Researchers will compare StEP OUT to infant safety education control to see if participants enroll in and engage with the program, complete surveys, and learn the content we are teaching. Participants will: * Be assigned to receive StEP OUT or Infant Safety Education * If receiving StEP OUT, they will participant in group text chats and video calls * If receiving Infant Safety Education, they will receive periodic text messages with helpful links and tips * Respond to periodic surveys

Detailed description

Our objective is to conduct a pilot RCT to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of StEP OUT. Hypothesis: The intervention and control conditions of StEP OUT will be acceptable to families and feasible, as measured by recruitment, randomization, retention, usability, and fidelity. H3b (exploratory): Families exposed to StEP OUT will have improved obesity-related outcomes (knowledge, styles, practices, and infant adiposity) compared to controls.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALStEP OUT

The program consists of five interactive, virtual, group sessions (two prenatal, three post-natal) with a registered dietician/lactation counselor and other women/families of similar gestational age/infant age. Participants discuss maternal nutrition, responsive feeding techniques (breast and bottle), infant feeding cues, and non-feeding soothing methods. Participants are also invited to participate in a moderated WhatsApp Chat with each other to foster additional social engagement and connection. They participate in the program until the baby turns 6 months.

BEHAVIORALInfant Safety Education

This intervention consists of periodic text messages (approximately every 2 weeks) with links to prenatal health and infant safety information.

Sponsors

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
CollaboratorNIH
Northwell Health
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Pregnant with singleton of 24 to 32 weeks estimated gestational age * Self-identify as Hispanic/Latinx * Speak fluent English or Spanish * At least 18 years of age * Has a phone or device to participate in video calls * Receiving or eligible to receive New York State Medicaid benefits

Exclusion criteria

* Diminished mental capacity * Serious medical or psychiatric illness * Fetal condition expected to substantially influence infant feeding (anatomic abnormality, such as cleft lip/palate or one that will require surgery within the first six months of life, chromosomal abnormality, such as Down's syndrome or other trisomy, etc.)

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
AcceptabilityFrom enrollment through the end of the study after child age 6 monthsWe will use the Sekhon acceptability framework to assess affective attitude, burden, opportunity cost, perceived effectiveness, coherence, ethicality, self-efficacy and general acceptability.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
FeasibilityFrom enrollment to study completion after infant age 6 months.Feasibility assessment will include measures of recruitment (number enrolled of those eligible), retention (number who attend all scheduled sessions of those enrolled), fidelity (number of curriculum components delivered of those planned), and attendance (1. Attendance rate: number of participants who attend each sessions of those scheduled to attend; 2. Program dose: number of sessions attended for each participant)

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactMichelle W Katzow, MD, MS
mkatzow@northwell.edu516-465-4377

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026