Skills Training Within a Family-based Obesity Treatment Intervention

Skills Training in Stimulus Control of Meals and Snacks Within a Family-based Obesity Treatment Intervention

This study is investigating the impact of a skills training program in stimulus control of meals and snacks on zBMI. Participants will be randomized to a standard family-based obesity treatment intervention with education on child health or a standard family-based obesity treatment intervention with experiential learning about meal stimulus control strategies.

Family-based obesity treatment interventions can successfully reduce weight in children, but are often limited in the practice of skills being taught during treatment sessions.

Skills training focused on a particular behavioral strategy can provide parents with an experiential component of learning where the information learned as part of a family-based obesity treatment intervention is also practiced. Health education simply provides knowledge to a family about a topic.

Inclusion Criteria:

• caregiver of child is ≥18 years of age;
• the caregiver has a child between the ages of 4 and 8 years-old who is classified as overweight (body mass index for age ≥ 85th percentile);
• the caregiver and child are able to read, speak and understand English due to delivery of the program in English;
• has transportation to the University of Delaware; and
• is willing and able to commit to the 3-month study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• the child has a medical condition impacting physical activity or eating (e.g. Type

  1 or Type 2 diabetes);

• the child have a medical condition that affects growth (e.g. Prader Willi Syndrome);

• the child is currently participating in a weight management program, and/or taking weight loss medication; or

• the caregiver or child has an inability to participate in regular physical activity.