title: A telephone intervention to achieve differentiation in dietary intake: a randomized trial in paediatric primary care.
abstract: Telehealth offers opportunities to extend clinical and research interventions for paediatric obesity.
  
  
  
  To assess utility of a telephone intervention, implemented through a national primary care paediatric research network, for promoting differentiation in dietary intake, consistent with either a low-glycemic load (Low GL) or Low Fat prescription, among overweight/obese school-age children.
  
  
  
  Five-week telephone dietary counselling intervention for parents of overweight/obese school-age children recruited through the Slone Center Office-based Research Network. Parent-child dyads were randomized to Low GL or Low Fat diet. Primary outcomes were dietary GL and dietary fat, adjusted for energy intake and assessed by 24-h dietary recall.
  
  
  
  Subjects were randomized to Low GL (n = 11, 8.1 ± 1.7 years, 45.5% male) or Low Fat (n = 11, 8.2 ± 2.0 years, 36.4% male), with no baseline differences. Overall, 86% of subjects attended at least four of five counselling sessions, and study completion rate was 91% (based on completion of the final dietary recalls). Reported satisfaction was high. In adjusted analyses limited to 'recall completers,' reduction in dietary GL (g/1000 kcal) achieved within the Low GL group was significant (p = 0.01) and greater than the change in dietary GL in the Low Fat group (mean ± SE; -12.9 ± 4.4 vs. 5.1 ± 4.9, p = 0.03). Similarly, reduction in dietary fat (% of total energy) within the Low Fat group was significant (-5.6 ± 2.5, p = 0.046) but with no difference between groups (p = 0.25).
  
  
  
  A telephone-based dietary intervention for overweight/obese children, implemented through a national paediatric research network, fostered prescribed dietary changes. ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT00620152.
authors: Division of Endocrinology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: E T
authors: ET
authors: Rhodes
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Pediatric Physicians' Organization at Children's, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Vernacchio
authors: Slone Epidemiology Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: A A
authors: AA
authors: Mitchell
authors: Division of Endocrinology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Fischer
authors: Division of Endocrinology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.|Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Giacalone
authors: Division of Endocrinology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: D S
authors: DS
authors: Ludwig
authors: Division of Endocrinology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: C B
authors: CB
authors: Ebbeling
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D050528:Diet, Carbohydrate-Restricted / Q000379:methods*; D018752:Diet, Fat-Restricted / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000178:diet therapy*; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000178:diet therapy*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D017216:Telemedicine; D013689:Telephone; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Diet; obesity; paediatric; practice-based research; telehealth; treatment