Session: Intervening with Parents to Prevent Pediatric Obesity: Outcomes and Processes (Society for Prevention Research 22nd Annual Meeting)

SESSION INTRODUCTION: Pediatric obesity is a public health concern due to its high prevalence and long-term consequences. Pediatric obesity can be best understood within an ecological framework and there is growing evidence to support the role of general parenting skills in the etiology and treatment of pediatric obesity. Thus, strategies for the prevention of pediatric obesity involving the family, particularly the parents, are the intervention modality of choice. However, the long-term outcomes and mechanisms of action of family-centered programs beginning in early childhood are not well documented. The goal of this symposium session is to better understand the mechanisms by which general parenting impacts pediatric obesity and the role it plays in its prevention. Two studies evaluate the long-term intervention effects of parenting programs for high-risk children and families on obesity at school age and the third study examines the relationship between parenting and mealtime behaviors related to obesity.

In the first paper, path analysis with a latent growth model revealed a significant indirect effect of participation in the Family Check-Up beginning at age 2 (N = 731) on the trajectory of BMI in late childhood. Intervention effects on caregivers’ observed positive behavior support (PBS) and its relationship with the nutritional quality of the meals served to the child functioned as the intervening process.

The second presentation drew from the findings of Study 1 in identifying the longitudinal relationship between PBS and mealtime behaviors in early childhood. Results of a cross-lag panel analysis of yearly assessments from age 2 to 5 revealed that PBS and parent’s mealtime behaviors are highly related and that parenting has a strong impact on mealtime behaviors over time. These results suggest that family-based prevention of obesity ought to target PBS in early childhood to support healthier dietary habits, such as the nutritional quality of the meals children are served, to promote maintenance of a healthy weight.

The third paper evaluated the long-term effects of ParentCorps on obesity with 559 ethnic minority youth enrolled in the study at age 4. Findings indicated significant prevention of obesity at age 8 and moderation of the effects by baseline levels of behavioral dysregulation, observed persistence, and school readiness. The prevention of obesity is a public health imperative in the U.S.

The collective findings of these studies add to the growing appreciation of the need to intervene early with parents as the primary agents of change. Doing so promotes effective parenting behaviors that are related to reductions in obesity rates and trajectories of weight gain in later childhood.