Parent preferences for telephone coaching to prevent and manage childhood obesity

Supporting families of children with overweight and obesity to live healthy lifestyles: Design and rationale for the Fitline cluster randomized controlled pediatric practice-based trial

BACKGROUND

Over a third of preadolescent children with overweight or obesity. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends pediatric providers help families make changes in eating and activity to improve body mass index (BMI). However, implementation is challenging given limited time and referral sources, and family burden to access in-person weight management programs.

PURPOSE

To describe the design of a National Heart Blood and Lung Institute sponsored cluster randomized controlled pediatric-based trial evaluating the effectiveness of the Fitline pediatric practice-based referral program to reduce BMI and improve diet and physical activity in children with overweight or obesity. Comparison will be made between brief provider intervention plus referral to (1) eight weekly nutritionist-delivered coaching calls with workbook to help families make AAP-recommended lifestyle changes (Fitline-Coaching), vs. (2) the same workbook in eight mailings without coaching (Fitline-Workbook).

METHODS

Twenty practices are pair-matched and randomized to one of the two conditions; 494 parents and their children ages 8-12 with a BMI of ≥85th percentile are being recruited. The primary outcome is child BMI; secondary outcomes are child's diet and physical activity at baseline and 6- and 12-months post-baseline. Cost-effectiveness of the two interventions also will be examined.

CONCLUSION

This is the first randomized controlled trial to examine use of a centrally located telephonic coaching service to support families of children with overweight and obesity in making AAP-recommended lifestyle changes. If effective, the Fitline program will provide an innovative model for widespread dissemination, setting new standards for weight management care in pediatric practice.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The ClinicalTrials.gov registration number is NCT03143660.

Potential solutions for pediatric weight loss programs in the treatment of obesity in rural communities

Pediatric obesity remains disproportionately more prevalent in rural communities; however, multidisciplinary, pediatric weight loss programs, which are often located in tertiary-care centers, may not be accessible to rural families. Limited models to specifically address pediatric obesity in rural communities exist. Therefore, innovative solutions are required for expanded treatment of pediatric obesity in rural communities. This article discusses potential solutions for multidisciplinary, tertiary-care pediatric weight loss programs to improve access and treatment of pediatric obesity in rural communities. A selected review of the literature suggests that strategies to overcome barriers to treatment in rural communities include telephone calls and telemedicine conferencing by obesity specialists from academic centers (obesity medicine specialists, endocrinologists, dietitians, and psychotherapists) as well as training local primary care providers in rural communities to screen, diagnose, and treat patients with obesity. Multidisciplinary, tertiary-care pediatric weight loss programs have a profound opportunity to impact the treatment of pediatric obesity in rural communities by training practicing rural primary care providers as well as strengthening their commitment to educate future generations of clinicians on the treatment of pediatric obesity through medical training including physician assistant, nurse practitioner, and pediatric and family medicine resident education and skill building. This article identifies potential mechanisms for expansive treatment of pediatric obesity in rural communities by multidisciplinary, tertiary-care weight loss programs and highlights areas of specific focus needed for future investigation.

Protocol for the Development of a Behavioral Family Lifestyle Intervention Supported by Mobile Health to Improve Weight Self-Management in Children With Asthma and Obesity

BACKGROUND

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness and is a leading cause of emergency department visits in the United States. Obesity increases the risk of poor health outcomes, reduced quality of life, and increased health care expenditures among youth with asthma. Weight loss is crucial for improving asthma outcomes in children with obesity. Our study team developed the Childhood Health and Asthma Management Program (CHAMP), a 16-session behavioral family lifestyle intervention (BFI) for school-age children with asthma and obesity and evaluated CHAMP in a randomized controlled trial compared with attention control. There were medium effect sizes favoring CHAMP for changes in body mass index z-scores, asthma control, and lung function among completers (ie, those who attended ≥9 of 16 sessions). Despite high rates of satisfaction reported by families, attendance and trial attrition were suboptimal, which raised concerns regarding the feasibility of CHAMP. Qualitative feedback from participants indicated 3 areas for refinement: (1) a less burdensome intervention modality, (2) a more individually tailored intervention experience, and (3) that interventionists can better answer health-related questions.

OBJECTIVE

We propose to improve upon our pilot intervention by developing the Mobile Childhood Health and Asthma Management Program (mCHAMP), a nurse-delivered BFI, delivered to individual families, and supported by a mobile health (mHealth) app. This study aims to (1) identify structural components of mCHAMP and (2) develop and test the usability of our mCHAMP app.

METHODS

Participants will be recruited from an outpatient pediatric pulmonary clinic. We will identify the structural components of mCHAMP by conducting a needs assessment with parents of children with asthma and obesity. Subsequently, we will develop and test our mCHAMP app using an iterative process that includes usability testing with target users and pediatric nurses.

RESULTS

This study was funded in 2018; 13 parents of children with asthma and obesity participated in the needs assessment. Preliminary themes from focus groups and individual meetings included barriers to engaging in health-promoting behaviors, perceived relationships between asthma and obesity, facilitators to behavior change, and intervention preferences. Participatory design sessions and usability testing are expected to conclude in late 2019.

CONCLUSIONS

Outcomes from this study are expected to include an mHealth app designed with direct participation from the target audience and usability data from stakeholders as well as potential end users.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/13549.

A formative study to understand perspectives of families eligible for a pediatric obesity program: a qualitative study

Background

Raising Well^® (RW) was initiated in 2015 by Envolve PeopleCare™ at the request of health plans seeking a solution to work with families on Medicaid that have a child with overweight or obesity. RW uses expert clinical coaches via phone contact to deliver an educational intervention promoting lifestyle change to families with at least one overweight or obese child in an eligible Medicaid health plan. This gives RW significant potential for reach and population impact. This project aimed to understand how to maximize this impact by exploring perspectives of RW, using a conceptual framework informed by the Conceptual Model of Implementation Research, including assessment of the feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of RW; determining satisfaction among those experiencing coaching; identifying reasons individuals do not participate; and developing recommendations to enhance interest and participation.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 70 RW-eligible families across four states, who were described as: active participants, respondents who dropped or stopped RW, and RW non-participants. Following the interviews, the transcripts were coded inductively and deductively using a grounded theory approach, considering themes from the conceptual framework; themes also emerged from the data.

Results

From this sample, 19 families reported to be active coaching participants, 24 had dropped coaching, and 27 were RW non-participants. A number of themes were identified. Feasibility themes included coaches’ flexibility and willingness to work with the family’s schedule. Acceptability themes suggest providing actionable strategies tailored to the family’s context and needs, beyond just nutrition information and tips, early in the coaching relationship so the family perceives a benefit for continued participation. With regard to appropriateness, families were also interested in other methods of communication including email, texting, and in person visits. Access to resources for activity and healthy eating in their local community was also recommended.

Conclusions

RW has the potential to improve health and promote wellness. To enhance the impact of this program, RW could incorporate these findings to promote feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness and improve program implementation. Strategies may include modifying the information provided or the mode of delivering the information.

Childhood obesity treatment: telephone coaching is as good as usual care in maintaining weight loss - a randomized controlled trial

There is a need for more flexible treatment strategies to help patients reach relevant treatment outcomes and adhere better to treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy, in terms of patients' weight status, of replacing usual care (UC) physical visits with more frequent but shorter telephone coaching (TC) sessions as part of a structured childhood obesity treatment. In this controlled study, patients aged 5-14 years from the Södertälje outpatient clinic, Sweden were randomized to either UC or TC over an 18-month period after participating in an initial standard obesity treatment programme. The patients were followed for a mean of 3.7 years. In total, 37 children (UC, n = 18 and TC, n = 19) were included, with a mean (standard deviation, SD) age of 9.5 (2.6) years and a body mass index standard deviation score (BMI SDS) of 2.9 (0.7). The change in BMI SDS did not differ between the groups during the study (P = 0.8). Both groups had similar changes in BMI SDS 3.7 years after the first visit to the clinic, TC = - 0.42 and UC = 0.52 BMI SDS units (P = 0.6 between groups). There were no gender differences. Furthermore, the average time clinicians spent with each patient during the study did not differ between the groups (P = 0.5). No patients were lost to follow-up during the study. In conclusion, the use of TC may offer greater flexibility in the treatment of paediatric obesity as it was non-inferior for both treatment efficacy and the time spent on treatment by healthcare personnel.