Parent-focused change to prevent obesity in preschoolers: results from the KAN-DO study.
OBJECTIVE
The study presents the immediate post-intervention results of Kids and Adults Now - Defeat Obesity!, a randomized controlled trial to enhance healthy lifestyle behaviors in mother-preschooler (2-5 years old) dyads in North Carolina (2007-2011). The outcomes include change from baseline in the child's diet, physical activity and weight, and in the mother's parenting behaviors, diet, physical activity, and weight.


METHODS
The intervention targeted parenting through maternal emotion regulation, home environment, feeding practices, and modeling of healthy behaviors. 400 mother-child dyads were randomized.


RESULTS
Mothers in the intervention arm, compared to the control arm, reduced instrumental feeding (-0.24 vs. 0.01, p<0.001) and TV snacks (-.069 vs. -0.24, p=0.001). There were also improvements in emotional feeding (p=0.03), mother's sugary beverage (p=0.03) and fruit/vegetable (p=0.04) intake, and dinners eaten in front of TV (p=0.01); these differences were not significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons.


CONCLUSIONS
KAN-DO, designed to maximize the capacity of mothers as agents of change, improved several channels of maternal influence. There were no group differences in the primary outcomes, but differences were observed in the parenting and maternal outcomes and there were trends toward improvement in the preschoolers' diets. Long-term follow-up will address whether these short-term trends ultimately improve weight status.
Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. truls.ostbye@duke.edu
Truls
T
Østbye
Katrina M
KM
Krause
Marissa
M
Stroo
Cheryl A
CA
Lovelady
Kelly R
KR
Evenson
Bercedis L
BL
Peterson
Lori A
LA
Bastian
Geeta K
GK
Swamy
Deborah G
DG
West
Rebecca J N
RJ
Brouwer
Nancy L
NL
Zucker
D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet; D004644:Emotions; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009657:North Carolina; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*