Efficacy of a Primary Care eHealth Obesity Treatment Pilot Intervention Developed for Vulnerable Pediatric Patients

Area of Science:

• Pediatric obesity
• e-Health interventions
• Primary care

Background:

• Excess weight in children presents challenges in primary care due to time constraints and patient access barriers.
• Vulnerable populations face additional hurdles in accessing consistent care for pediatric weight management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of Dynamo Kids! (DK), a bilingual e-health intervention, on parent-reported healthy habits and child BMI.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of DK in overcoming system-level challenges in pediatric weight management within primary care settings.

Main Methods:

• A 3-month quasi-experimental pilot study involving 73 families with children aged 6-12 years with BMI ≥85th percentile.
• Participants used the bilingual (English/Spanish) DK e-health platform, including educational modules and tracking tools.
• Pre-post survey data on family nutrition and physical activity (FNPA) scores, child %BMIp95, and parent BMI were analyzed using mixed-effects linear regression.

Main Results:

• Among 46 DK users, significant improvements were observed in parent-reported FNPA scores (p=0.01) and a decrease in parent BMI (p=0.04).
• A dose-response relationship was found, with each minute on the DK website associated with a -0.02% change in child %BMIp95.
• While child %BMIp95 showed a trend towards decrease (-1.03%), it did not reach statistical significance (p=0.22).

Conclusions:

• The Dynamo Kids! e-health intervention successfully increased parent-reported healthy habits and reduced parent BMI.
• e-Health solutions can effectively address barriers in primary care for pediatric weight management, potentially requiring less intensive engagement than in-person methods.
• DK demonstrates potential as a scalable tool for supporting families in managing childhood overweight.