In most childhood obesity preventive programs, parents are targeted as they are key in achieving lifestyle behavior change in their children. Because their participation is generally low, new technologies, such as text messaging, are being tested to assess if their participation increases. The objective of this study was to determine the perception that mothers of overweight/ obese preschool children have of a textmessaging program developed to support their children’s lifestyle behavior change. Text messages were sent to 60 mothers twice a week for 12 weeks; 58 of them said they received all of them. During the process mothers were contacted twice regarding their opinion on all aspects related to the messages. At follow-up, we determined perception by in depth interviews administered to participants. Results show that text messaging implemented in a personalized manner was considered successful in regards to providing useful information to support their children’s behavior change.

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We developed and pilot tested the effectiveness of a physically active academic program, Active Breaks (AB), whose objective is to increase school time moderate/vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among first graders, through daily 15-minute bouts of MVPA, at the beginning of the first lesson. Initially, 240 cards including one game each were developed and tested in first-grade students from 16 schools in Santiago. Trained observers and school teachers assessed the time, ease, and feasibility of implementation for each card. Barriers and facilitators to implementation were obtained from semistructured interviews to 14 teachers (out of 16). In eight schools ( n = 556 students), we compared school time MVPA (with accelerometers) at baseline and follow-up, using test of proportions. One-hundred and twenty cards (games) complied with all aspects. AB were implemented 50% of the time with a duration of 14 minutes ( SD = 5). More than 90% of the time, teachers felt competent to conduct AB, and children understood the instructions and enjoyed the activity. The main facilitators included teachers liking physical activity and considering it important, support of principal and school staff, and conducting AB inside the classroom. Barriers included teacher’s workload and having to conduct AB during the first lesson. During the 4-month period of implementation, MVPA increased by 1.5 and 1.2 percentage points in boys and girls, respectively. The set of 120 cards is easy and feasible to implement. Moreover, preliminary results suggest they could be effective in increasing MVPA during school time, although studies with longer follow-ups are needed to assess the validity of these findings.