Application of Theory-Based Health Behavior Change Techniques to the Prevention of Obesity in Children

Beckman, Heidi T.; Hawley, Suzanne R.; Bishop, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2006.02.012

Cited by 30 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Family-based lifestyle interventions with a behavioral program aimed at sustainably changing the family's lifestyle (“thinking patterns”) have been shown to result in significant and clinically meaningful decrease in childhood overweight [9], and programs which mainly address parents and train parenting skills on healthy lifestyle have been shown to achieve significant weight loss in younger children [22]. Parenting styles and the involvement of the family environment have consistently been identified as crucial factors linked to childhood obesity and the success of intervention strategies [23]–[25]. However, motivating families to participate in prevention programs has been difficult, particularly for family-based interventions [26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reasons for (Non)Participating in a Telephone-Based Intervention Program for Families with Overweight Children

et al. 2012

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ObjectiveWillingness to participate in obesity prevention programs is low; underlying reasons are poorly understood. We evaluated reasons for (non)participating in a novel telephone-based obesity prevention program for overweight children and their families.MethodOverweight children and adolescents (BMI>90th percentile) aged 3.5–17.4 years were screened via the CrescNet database, a representative cohort of German children, and program participation (repetitive computer aided telephone counseling) was offered by their local pediatrician. Identical questionnaires to collect baseline data on anthropometrics, lifestyle, eating habits, sociodemographic and psychosocial parameters were analyzed from 433 families (241 participants, 192 nonparticipants). Univariate analyses and binary logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with nonparticipation.ResultsThe number of overweight children (BMI>90th percentile) was higher in nonparticipants than participants (62% vs. 41.1%,p<0.001), whereas the number of obese children (BMI>97th percentile) was higher in participants (58.9% vs.38%,p<0.001). Participating girls were younger than boys (8.8 vs.10.4 years, p<0.001). 87.3% and 40% of participants, but only 72.2% and 24.7% of nonparticipants, respectively, reported to have regular breakfasts (p = 0.008) and 5 regular daily meals (p = 0.003). Nonparticipants had a lower household-net-income (p<0.001), but higher subjective physical wellbeing than participants (p = 0.018) and believed that changes in lifestyle can be made easily (p = 0.05).ConclusionAn important reason for nonparticipation was non-awareness of their child's weight status by parents. Nonparticipants, who were often low-income families, believed that they already perform a healthy lifestyle and had a higher subjective wellbeing. We hypothesize that even a low-threshold intervention program does not reach the families who really need it.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reasons for (Non)Participating in a Telephone-Based Intervention Program for Families with Overweight Children

et al. 2012

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“…SCT acknowledges the role of ‘modelling’ and contextual ‘availability’ as key in influencing a child’s dietary intake [47, 48]; especially in younger children who are potentially less influenced by peer pressure and more influenced by parent and teacher behaviours [31, 32, 49]. ‘Goal setting’ has demonstrated some success in adults [47] and helps people set their goals in motion in accordance with values, priorities and commitment to change [50]. Using behaviour change techniques such as ‘prompt specific goal setting’ [37] was considered to be an appropriate method to support parental behaviour change.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A feasibility study with process evaluation of a preschool intervention to improve child and family lifestyle behaviours

et al. 2017

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BackgroundAround a fifth of children starting school in England are now overweight/obese. There is a paucity of interventions with the aim of obesity prevention in preschool-age children in the UK. Previous research has demonstrated some positive results in changing specific health behaviours, however, positive trends in overall obesity rates are lacking. Preschool settings may provide valuable opportunities to access children and their families not only for promoting healthy lifestyles, but also to develop and evaluate behaviour-change interventions.MethodsThis paper presents a cluster randomised feasibility study of a theory based behaviour-change preschool practitioner-led intervention tested in four preschool centres in the North East of England. The primary outcome measures were to test the acceptability and feasibility of the data collection measures and intervention. Secondary measures were collected and reported for extra information. At baseline and post intervention, children’s anthropometric, dietary and physical activity measures as well as family ‘active’ time data were collected. The preschool practitioner-led intervention included family intervention tasks such as ‘family goal-setting activities’ and ‘cooking challenges’. Preschool activities included increasing physical activity and providing activities with the potential to change behaviour with increased knowledge of and acceptance of healthy eating. The process evaluation was an on-going monthly process and was collected in multiple forms such as questionnaires, photographs and verbal feedback.Results‘Gatekeeper’ permission and lower-hierarchal adherence were initially a problem for recruitment and methods acceptance. However, at intervention end the preschool teachers and parents stated they found most intervention methods and activities acceptable, and some positive changes in family health behaviours were reported. However, the preschool centres appeared to have difficulties with enforcing everyday school healthy eating policies.ConclusionsThe findings from the current study may have implications for nursery practitioners, nursery settings, Local Educational Authorities and policy makers, and contributes to the body of literature. However, further work with preschool practitioners is required to determine how personal attitudes and school policy application can be supported to implement successfully such an intervention.Trial registration ISRCTN12345678 (16/02/17) retrospectively registered.

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“…1 Monitoring children’s health behaviors can help to determine the correlates and causes of weight gain. 2 This is particularly important for diet, as dietary patterns often extend into adolescence and adulthood, and dietary intake has been linked to childhood obesity. 3,4 The School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) questionnaire is a brief self-administered measure of dietary intake that is frequently used for evaluating school-based nutrition education programs.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Four Dietary Items of the School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) Questionnaire Form a Robust Latent Variable Measuring Healthy Eating Patterns

Larsen

McArdle

Robertson³

et al. 2015

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

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Objective Evaluating the factor structure of four dietary subscales (Fruits, Fruit Juice, Vegetables, and Milk) from the School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) questionnaire elementary version. Methods Secondary analysis of intervention data from 3rd grade classrooms measured at pre-intervention, post-intervention (10 weeks), and three month follow-up. SEM invariance analysis was conducted to test the stability of the factor structure of the four subscales. Results 1,147 students participated. Fit indices revealed good fit for a single factor remaining stable across time (χ2 [df = 59] = 59.75), across gender (χ2 [df = 128] = 149.72), and across study group (χ2 [df = 128] = 143.04). Conclusions and implications A Healthy Food factor consisting of the four subscales can be used in future data analysis. This offers several advantages in analysis, including the use of latent change scores that are more powerful, more informative, and more easily interpreted than traditional approaches.

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Application of Theory-Based Health Behavior Change Techniques to the Prevention of Obesity in Children

Cited by 30 publications

References 29 publications

Reasons for (Non)Participating in a Telephone-Based Intervention Program for Families with Overweight Children

Reasons for (Non)Participating in a Telephone-Based Intervention Program for Families with Overweight Children

A feasibility study with process evaluation of a preschool intervention to improve child and family lifestyle behaviours

Four Dietary Items of the School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) Questionnaire Form a Robust Latent Variable Measuring Healthy Eating Patterns

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