A randomized clinical trial of the effects of parent mentors on early childhood obesity: Study design and baseline data.
BACKGROUND
Few effective community-based interventions exist for early childhood obesity. Parent mentors have been successful as an intervention for other conditions, but have not been used in childhood obesity. We designed an intervention for early childhood obesity using parent mentors and a positive outlier approach to assess potential efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability.


METHODS
This trial enrolled obese (≥ 95th BMI percentile for age and gender) 2-5-year-old children in a Head Start program and their parents, with allocation to either parent mentors trained in positively deviant behaviors regarding childhood obesity, or community health workers delivering health education on obesity-related behaviors. The primary outcome is body mass index z-score change at the six-month follow-up assessment. Secondary outcomes include feeding behaviors and practices, health-related quality of life, dietary intake, and participation levels.


RESULTS
We enrolled three parent mentors and 60 parent-child dyads. The population is 100% Hispanic; 44% of parents speak Spanish as their primary language and 45% were not high-school graduates. Children had a reported median vegetable and fruit intake of 0.3 and 1.1 cups per day, respectively, at baseline, and a median daily screen time of three hours. There was no intergroup difference in quality-of-life scores at baseline. Retention has been high, at 90% in three months.


CONCLUSIONS
In this randomized trial of the effects of parent mentors on early childhood obesity, parent-child dyads from an underserved, Hispanic population were successfully enrolled through a partnership with a Head Start organization, with a high retention rate.
Division of Inpatient Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, US. Electronic address: fosterba@uthscsa.edu.
Byron A
BA
Foster
Regional Academic Health Center Clinical Research Unit, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Harlingen, TX, US.
Christian
C
Aquino
Regional Academic Health Center Clinical Research Unit, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Harlingen, TX, US.
Mario
M
Gil
Medica Research Institute Distinguished Chair in Health Policy Research Minneapolis, MN, US. Electronic address: Glenn.Flores@Medica.com.
Glenn
G
Flores
Division of Endocrinology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, US.
Daniel
D
Hale
D015992:Body Mass Index; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000458:organization & administration; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000628:therapy*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012107:Research Design; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D061217:Weight Reduction Programs / Q000458:organization & administration
Child; Obesity; Overweight; Positive deviance; Preschool