The System Fammeal With Tailored Recommendations and Gamification for Parents to Counteract Childhood Obesity

The System Fammeal Comprising an App With Tailored Recommendations and Gamification for Parents to Counteract Childhood Obesity, at Health Care Centers - Pilot Randomized Control Trial

The investigators aim to test an evidence-based intervention, allocated to a mobile app designed to parents and their children with 3 to 6 years old, identified by family doctors or nurses at well-child care visits as overweight or obese for age.

This intervention aims to improve parent's perceptions and attitudes regarding children's weight status and food intake, leading to better dietary intake and children's' eating behaviors through positive parental child-feeding practices. In this study, the investigators aim to assess the feasibility of the intervention and explore its impact on the beliefs and attitudes of parents.

The investigators will enroll parents and their children with 3 to 6 years old, identified by family doctors or nurses at well-child care visits as overweight/obese for age.

Participant's eligibility will be assessed. Participants will be randomized to: 1) control group; 2) intervention group. The control group will receive treatment as usual. Parents in the intervention group will be provided with the app and invited to use it for 4 weeks. During the 4 weeks, the administrator monitors the app usage and call once to parents to improve it, if needed.

Both groups will perform a pre- and post-test, evaluating parent's perceptions and attitudes regarding children's weight status and food intake; eating behaviors and parental child-feeding practices.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children with 36 to 83 months at the start of the intervention.
• Children overweight or obese for age, according to World Health Organization criteria.
• Parent/ caregiver with at least 18 years old.
• Parent/caregiver involved in child feeding management (≥ 5 in a 0-10 rating scale, from 'Not at all' to 'Extremely involved').
• Parent/ caregiver able to read, speak and understand Portuguese.
• Parent/caregiver with an android device.
• Parent/caregiver willing to participate in the research study, to participate in two face-to-face evaluations, to install and use the app and to receive weekly notifications and 1-3 calls, during 4 weeks.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children with any medical conditions that affect growth, intake or physical activity.
• Children with any dietary professional advice, in the last 6 months.