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Effectiveness of a Parent-Based eHealth Intervention for Physical Activity, Dietary Behavior, and Sleep Among
Peng Zhou1, Huiqi Song2, Patrick W C Lau1
1Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong).
Insights
This study explores a parent-based eHealth intervention to improve physical activity (PA), dietary behavior (DB), and sleep in Chinese preschoolers. The novel approach aims to overcome barriers of traditional interventions for a healthier lifestyle.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Digital Health Interventions
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Preschoolers exhibit increasingly sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy eating habits, and disturbed sleep patterns.
- Parent-based interventions show promise for improving physical activity (PA), dietary behavior (DB), and sleep in preschoolers.
- eHealth interventions offer accessible and cost-effective alternatives to traditional face-to-face approaches, addressing barriers like travel and time.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effectiveness of a parent-based eHealth intervention targeting PA, DB, and sleep problems in Chinese preschoolers.
- To address the gap in eHealth interventions tailored to the Chinese cultural context for preschoolers' lifestyle behaviors.
Main Methods:
- A 2-arm, parallel randomized controlled trial involving 206 parent-child dyads over a 12-week intervention period with a 12-week follow-up.
- The intervention group received 12 weekly interactive social media modules based on social cognitive theory; the control group received weekly brochures.
- Data collection at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months, with preschoolers' PA as the primary outcome and DB and sleep as secondary outcomes.
Main Results:
- Recruitment completed in September 2023, with data collection from October 2023 to March 2024.
- Follow-up data collection is scheduled for June 2024.
- Study results are anticipated for publication in 2025.
Conclusions:
- Parent-based eHealth interventions hold potential to overcome face-to-face intervention barriers, offering a novel strategy for promoting healthy preschooler lifestyles.
- If proven efficacious, this low-cost intervention could alleviate unhealthy lifestyle prevalence, positively impacting individual health, family well-being, and reducing societal healthcare costs.
Background:
Preschoolers' lifestyles have become physically inactive and sedentary, their eating habits have become unhealthy, and their sleep routines have become increasingly disturbed. Parent-based interventions have shown promise to improve physical activity (PA), improve dietary behavior (DB), and reduce sleep problems among preschoolers. However, because of the recognized obstacles of face-to-face approaches (eg, travel costs and time commitment), easy access and lower costs make eHealth interventions appealing. Previous studies that examined the effectiveness of parent-based eHealth for preschoolers' PA, DB, and sleep have either emphasized 1 variable or failed to balance PA, DB, and sleep modules and consider the intervention sequence during the intervention period. There is an acknowledged gap in parent-based eHealth interventions that target preschoolers raised in Chinese cultural contexts.
Objective:
This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a parent-based eHealth intervention for PA, DB, and sleep problems among Chinese preschoolers.
Methods:
This 2-arm, parallel, randomized controlled trial comprises a 12-week intervention with a 12-week follow-up. A total of 206 parent-child dyads will be randomized to either an eHealth intervention group or a control group. Participants allocated to the eHealth intervention group will receive 12 interactive modules on PA, DB, and sleep, with each module delivered on a weekly basis to reduce the sequence effect on variable outcomes. The intervention is grounded in social cognitive theory. It will be delivered through social media, where parents can obtain valid and updated educational information, have a social rapport, and interact with other group members and facilitators. Participants in the control group will receive weekly brochures on PA, DB, and sleep recommendations from kindergarten teachers, but they will not receive any interactive components. Data will be collected at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. The primary outcome will be preschoolers' PA. The secondary outcomes will be preschoolers' DB, preschoolers' sleep duration, preschoolers' sleep problems, parents' PA, parenting style, and parental feeding style.
Results:
Parent-child dyads were recruited in September 2023. Baseline and posttest data collection occurred from October 2023 to March 2024. The follow-up data will be obtained in June 2024. The results of the study are expected to be published in 2025.
Conclusions:
The parent-based eHealth intervention has the potential to overcome the barriers of face-to-face interventions and will offer a novel approach for promoting a healthy lifestyle among preschoolers. If this intervention is found to be efficacious, the prevalence of unhealthy lifestyles among preschoolers may be alleviated at a low cost, which not only has a positive influence on the health of individuals and the well-being of the family but also reduces the financial pressure on society to treat diseases caused by poor lifestyle habits.
Trial Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06025019; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06025019.
International Registered Report Identifier (Irrid):
DERR1-10.2196/58344.
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