Evaluation of the Scale-up and Implementation of Mind, Exercise, Nutrition…Do It! (MEND) in British Columbia: A Hybrid Trial Type 3 Evaluation

Abstract

Background The Mind, Exercise, Nutrition…Do it! (MEND) childhood obesity intervention was implemented in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada from April 2013 to June 2017. The study objective was: a) to describe and explore program reach, attendance, satisfaction, acceptability, fidelity, and facilitators and challenges to implementation during scale-up and implementation of MEND in B.C. while b) monitoring program effectiveness in improving children’s body mass index (BMI) z-score, waist circumference, dietary and physical activity behaviours, and psychological well-being.Methods This prospective, pragmatic implementation evaluation (Hybrid Type 3 design) recruited families with children aged 7-13 with a BMI ≥ 85th percentile for age and sex. The 10-week MEND B.C. program was delivered in 27 sites, throughout all five B.C. health regions (Northern, Interior, Island, Fraser, and Vancouver Coastal) over four years. A mixed-method approach was used to collect and analyze the data. Evaluation measures included: program reach, attendance, fidelity, acceptability, satisfaction, facilitators and challenges to implementation, and effectiveness (change in children’s BMI z-score, physical activity, screen-time, eating behaviours, self-esteem and emotional distress).Results 136 MEND B.C. programs were delivered over four years. The program reached 987 eligible children. 755 (76.5%) children completed the program. The average program attendance was 81.5%. Parents reported the program content was easy to understand, culturally suitable for their family, respectful of their family's financial situation and provided adequate information to build a healthy lifestyle. Children achieved significant positive changes across all four evaluation years in BMI z-score, nutrition behaviours, physical activity levels, hours of screen time per week and emotional distress (p<0.05). Challenges to continued program implementation included: recruitment, resource requirement for implementation and the need to tailor the program locally to be more flexible and culturally relevant.Conclusions Scaling up efficacious childhood obesity interventions into real-world settings is critical to combat the obesity epidemic. Future family-based childhood obesity management interventions need to explore strategies to enhance program delivery flexibility while optimizing the use of health care resources.