title: Child and parental self-monitoring as determinants of success in the treatment of morbid obesity in low-income minority children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine self-monitoring by children and parents as related to weight control over 6 months within a long-term multidisciplinary program for low-income minority children with morbid obesity.
  
  
  METHODS
  The weight changes of 228 children with obesity were evaluated according to frequency of child and parental self-monitoring. Predictors of self-monitoring were also evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children who self-monitored on most days lost more weight over 6 months of treatment compared with less-consistent self-monitors. Children whose parents self-monitored were also more likely to self-monitor and lose weight.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Self-monitoring seems just as critical for successful weight control among low-income minority children with obesity as it is in the middle-class populations. Although lower education and higher levels of psychosocial stress may decrease self-monitoring and participation by these families, they might still benefit from targeting highly consistent self-monitoring (by parents and children) as a primary goal in weight-control programs.
authors.affiliation: La Rabida Children's Hospital, E. 65th St at Lake Michigan, Chicago, Illinois 60649, USA. jgermann@larabida.org
authors.forename: Julie N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Germann
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kirschenbaum
authors.forename: Barry H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Rich
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome