A Pilot Study of Parent Mentors for Early Childhood Obesity

Abstract EN

Objective.

To assess the feasibility of a parent mentor model of intervention for early childhood obesity using positive deviance-based methods to inform the intervention.

Methods.

In this pilot, randomized clinical trial, parent-child dyads (age: 2–5) with children whose body mass index (BMI) was ≥95th percentile were randomized to parent mentor intervention or community health worker comparison.

The child’s height and weight were measured at baseline, after the six-month intervention, and six months after the intervention.

Feasibility outcomes were recruitment, participation, and retention.

The primary clinical outcome was BMI z -score change.

Results.

Sixty participants were enrolled, and forty-eight completed the six-month intervention.

At baseline, the BMI z -score in the parent mentor group was 2.63 (SD = 0.65) and in the community health worker group it was 2.61 (SD = 0.89).

For change in BMI z -score over time, there was no difference by randomization group at the end of the intervention: −0.02 (95% CI: −0.26, 0.22).

At the end of the intervention, the BMI z -score for the parent mentor group was 2.48 (SD = 0.58) and for the community health worker group it was 2.45 (SD = 0.91), both reduced from baseline, p < 0.001 .

Conclusion.

The model of a parent mentor clinical trial is feasible, and both randomized groups experienced small, sustained effects on adiposity in an obese, Hispanic population.