Parent Mentor Interventions for Early Childhood Obesity

Parent Mentor Interventions for Early Childhood Obesity

The purpose of this clinical trial is to identify the most effective strategy for intervention to change behaviors and affect weight status in obese children 2-5 years of age within the context of early childhood education centers.

The primary aim is to test an intervention to disseminate and promote the adoption of positive deviance behaviors among parents of obese Hispanic children using peer mentors. This trial will evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of this approach in reducing adiposity among a high-risk population of children.

Our central hypothesis is that children randomized to the intervention with a parent mentor using positive deviance methods with have a greater reduction in adiposity as measured by body mass index (BMI) compared with a parent mentor using traditional education or a control receiving usual education.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 2-5 years of age child, Hispanic ethnicity, attends the Head Start facility

Exclusion Criteria:

• any major medical disorder impairing growth or development