The Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment (HOME) Plus study: Design and methods

Abstract

Background Informed and engaged parents and healthful home environments are essential for the health of youth. Although research has shown health benefits associated with family meals, to date, no randomized controlled trial (RCT) has been developed to examine the impact of a family meals intervention on behavioral and health outcomes. Methods/Design The Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment (HOME) Plus study is a two-arm (intervention versus attention-only control) RCT being conducted in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Built on previous pilot research, HOME Plus aims to increase the frequency and healthfulness of family meals and snacks and reduce children’s sedentary behavior, particularly screen time, to promote healthier eating and activity behaviors and prevent obesity. HOME Plus is delivered to families in community settings. The program includes 10 monthly sessions focused on nutrition and activity education, meal planning and preparation skill development. In addition, five motivational goal-setting phone calls are conducted with parents. The primary outcome measure is age- and gender-adjusted child BMI-z score at post-intervention by treatment group. Secondary household-level outcomes include family meal frequency, home availability of healthful foods (fruits/vegetables) and unhealthful foods (high-fat/sugary snacks) and beverages (sugar-sweetened beverages), and the quality of foods served at meals and snacks. Secondary child outcomes include dietary intake of corresponding foods and beverages and screen time. Conclusions The HOME Plus RCT actively engages whole families of 8–12 year old children to promote healthier eating and activity behaviors and prevent obesity through promotion of family meals and snacks and limited media use.

Associations among Nine Family Dinner Frequency Measures and Child Weight, Dietary, and Psychosocial Outcomes

“…25 The community-based, HOME Plus randomized controlled trial aimed to decrease excess child weight gain through family intervention activities. Detailed in full elsewhere, 25 trained staff recruited families from the Minneapolis/St.…”

“…25 The community-based, HOME Plus randomized controlled trial aimed to decrease excess child weight gain through family intervention activities. Detailed in full elsewhere, 25 trained staff recruited families from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metropolitan area from community centers using various techniques (e.g., flyers, presentations), and recruitment criteria included English fluency, parent participants to be the primary meal preparer (99% were parents with 1% caregivers; therefore, parents is used herein to refer to the adult caregivers of child participants), and child participants to be 8–12 years old and at/or above the 50 th BMI percentile.…”

“…Families were randomized into a control group (newsletters) or the HOME Plus intervention group (10-monthly, interactive, family sessions aiming to increase family meal frequency and the healthfulness of meals, snacks and home food environment and reduce sedentary behavior). 25,26 The University of Minnesota Institutional Review Board approved trial protocols; parent and child participants provided written informed consent and assent, respectively.…”

Directive and non-directive food-related parenting practices: Associations between an expanded conceptualization of food-related parenting practices and child dietary intake and weight outcomes

“…49–51 HOME Plus was a randomized controlled trial designed to prevent childhood obesity via a family-focused, community-based program that encouraged families to eat healthy meals and snacks together and limit screen time. 49 The main meal-preparing parent and one 8–12-year-old child per household were recruited to participate through events and flyers at Minneapolis Park and Recreation centers where the intervention program was held.…”

“…Families were ineligible to participate if parents or children did not speak English, children had health conditions that prevented them from participating in the intervention, or children had an age- and gender adjusted body mass index (BMI) below the 50th percentile. 51 Baseline surveys were completed by 160 parent–child dyads in their homes during the summers of 2011 and 2012 (two cohorts). 50 All adults and children provided written consent and assent, respectively.…”