title: Kids and adults now! Defeat Obesity (KAN-DO): rationale, design and baseline characteristics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prevention of childhood obesity is a public health priority. Parents influence a child's weight by modeling healthy behaviors, controlling food availability and activity opportunities, and appropriate feeding practices. Thus interventions should target education and behavioral change in the parent, and positive, mutually reinforcing behaviors within the family.
  
  
  METHODS
  This paper presents the design, rationale and baseline characteristics of Kids and Adults Now! - Defeat Obesity (KAN-DO), a randomized controlled behavioral intervention trial targeting weight maintenance in children of healthy weight, and weight reduction in overweight children. 400 children aged 2-5 and their overweight or obese mothers in the Triangle and Triad regions of North Carolina are randomized equally to control or the KAN-DO intervention, consisting of mailed family kits encouraging healthy lifestyle change. Eight (monthly) kits are supported by motivational counseling calls and a single group session. Mothers are targeted during a hypothesized "teachable moment" for health behavior change (the birth of a new baby), and intervention content addresses: parenting skills ((e.g., emotional regulation, authoritative parenting), healthy eating, and physical activity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 400 mother-child dyads randomized to trial are 75% white and 22% black; 19% have a household income of $30,000 or below. At baseline, 15% of children are overweight (85th-95th percentile for body mass index) and 9% are obese (≥ 95th percentile).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This intervention addresses childhood obesity prevention by using a family-based, synergistic approach, targeting at-risk children and their mothers during key transitional periods, and enhancing maternal self-regulation and responsive parenting as a foundation for health behavior change.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA. truls.ostbye@duke.edu
authors.forename: Truls
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ostbye
authors.forename: Nancy L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Zucker
authors.forename: Katrina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.forename: Cheryl A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Lovelady
authors.forename: Kelly R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Evenson
authors.forename: Bercedis L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: Lori A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Bastian
authors.forename: Geeta K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Swamy
authors.forename: Deborah G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: Rebecca J N
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Brouwer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003376:Counseling; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education*; D009657:North Carolina; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting