AHRQ Innovations Exchange | Alternating Group and In-Home Sessions Help Obese Preschoolers and Overweight Parents Improve Eating Habits and Reduce Body Mass Index

Alternating Group and In-Home Sessions Help Obese Preschoolers and Overweight Parents Improve Eating Habits and Reduce Body Mass Index

Summary
Behavioral health clinicians at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center lead a 24-week program for obese preschoolers and their overweight parent(s). Known as LAUNCH (Learning about Activity and Understanding Nutrition for Child Health), the program consists of alternating group-based sessions focused on improving behaviors related to diet and physical activity and in-home, one-on-one consultations designed to support, demonstrate, reinforce, and build on the concepts and strategies covered in the group sessions. The initial phase consists of 12 weekly sessions focused on dietary education, physical activity, and parenting skills, followed by a second phase of 6 biweekly sessions designed to help families continue to make and maintain positive changes. The program improved dietary (but not physical activity) habits among preschoolers, leading to less weight gain and reductions in body mass index as compared with a control group of preschoolers and parents receiving only an initial 45-minute counseling session led by a pediatrician. Parents of preschoolers participating in the program also achieved greater weight loss and lower body mass index than did parents in the control group.

Evidence Rating
Strong: The evidence consists primarily of an RCT that compared key metrics for 7 families (parent and preschooler) participating in the LAUNCH program and 10 families receiving "enhanced" usual care, which consisted of one 45-minute counseling session led by a pediatrician; metrics evaluated include changes in dietary habits (e.g., caloric intake, availability of high-calorie foods, fruits, and vegetables in the home), level of physical activity, weight, BMI z-score, and BMI percentile.


Developing Organizations

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

full-text:
AHRQ Innovations Exchange | Alternating Group and In-Home Sessions Help Obese Preschoolers and Overweight Parents Improve Eating Habits and Reduce Body Mass Index