A Pilot Study of Parent Mentors for Early Childhood Obesity

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Public Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Early childhood obesity is a significant public health concern.
• Effective, feasible interventions are needed to address pediatric obesity, particularly in at-risk populations.
• Positive deviance-based methods offer a novel approach to intervention design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of a parent mentor intervention model for early childhood obesity.
• To utilize positive deviance methods to inform intervention strategies.
• To compare the parent mentor model against a community health worker comparison group.

Main Methods:

• Pilot randomized clinical trial involving parent-child dyads (ages 2-5) with children in the ≥95th percentile for body mass index (BMI).
• Participants were randomized to either a parent mentor intervention or a community health worker comparison group.
• Feasibility assessed by recruitment, participation, and retention; primary clinical outcome was change in BMI z-score over six months and six months post-intervention.

Main Results:

• Sixty participants enrolled, with 48 completing the six-month intervention.
• No significant difference in BMI z-score change between the parent mentor and community health worker groups at the end of the intervention (-0.02; 95% CI: -0.26, 0.22).
• Both groups showed significant reductions in BMI z-score from baseline to the end of the intervention (p < 0.001), with sustained effects observed.

Conclusions:

• The parent mentor model is a feasible clinical trial approach for addressing early childhood obesity.
• Both intervention arms demonstrated small, sustained positive effects on adiposity in obese Hispanic children.
• Findings support the potential of parent-centered interventions informed by positive deviance principles.