title: Early Obesity Prevention: A Randomized Trial of a Practice-Based Intervention in 0-24-Month Infants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A pediatric office-based intervention was implemented following a randomized, controlled design, aimed at improving child feeding practices and growth patterns and ultimately reducing risk for overweight and obesity later in life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four clinics (232 infants) were randomized to control or intervention (I), the latter delivered by health care provider at each of 7-9 well-baby visits over 2 years, using a previously developed program (Growing Leaps and Bounds) that included verbal, visual, and text advice and information for parents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The I group offered significantly less soda (p = 0.006), sweetened tea (p = 0.01), punch (p = 0.02) and/or cow's milk (p = 0.001) to infants and delayed the introduction of drink/food other than breast milk (p < 0.05). Parents in the I group had a higher perceived parental monitoring (p = 0.05) and restriction (p = 0.01) on infant feeding. While the I group exhibited at baseline more adverse socioeconomic indicators than the control group, growth trajectory or body size indices did not significantly differ between groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Education provided by health care providers in addition to follow-up monthly phone calls may help modify parental behaviors related to child feeding and increase parental sense of responsibility toward child eating behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Nutrition, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schroeder
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland, School of Social Work, Ruth H. Young Center for Families and Children, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Berenice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rushovich
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21211, USA.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bartlett
authors.affiliation: Aboriginal and Global Health Research Group, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Sangita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Nutrition, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gittelsohn
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Nutrition, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Caballero
mesh_terms: D061345:Early Medical Intervention / Q000379:methods*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland / Q000453:epidemiology; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*