A Multimethod Evaluation of the Futuros Fuertes Intervention to Promote Healthy Feeding, Screen Time, and Sleep...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Pediatrics
• Health Behavior

Background:

• Early childhood health behaviors, including infant feeding and screen time, are crucial for long-term well-being.
• Low-income and minority populations often face unique challenges in adopting and maintaining healthy practices.
• Intervention strategies tailored to specific cultural contexts are needed to address these disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the Futuros Fuertes intervention on infant feeding, screen time, and sleep.
• To explore the underlying mechanisms through which the intervention influenced parental practices using qualitative methods.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 96 low-income Latino infant-parent dyads, recruited at birth.
• Intervention group received health education and weekly text messages; control group received financial coaching.
• Data collected via surveys on infant feeding, screen time, sleep, and parent interviews explored intervention experiences.

Main Results:

• Higher fruit intake and breastfeeding rates observed in the intervention group at 15 and 6-9 months, respectively.
• Significantly lower daily screen time for infants in the intervention group across multiple time points (6, 12, 15 months).
• Qualitative data revealed parental trust, practice changes, and the supportive role of text messages in behavior modification.

Conclusions:

• The Futuros Fuertes intervention demonstrated positive impacts on infant feeding and screen time practices among low-income Latino families.
• Parental trust and the use of text message reminders were key factors facilitating behavior change.
• The findings highlight the potential of culturally tailored interventions to improve early childhood health outcomes.