Childhood obesity treatment focus of $1.9 million grant

Researchers at the UNMC College of Public Health and the University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA) received a $1.9 million grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study the effectiveness of two childhood obesity treatment programs for medically underserved families.

The study will be conducted in southwest Virginia where childhood obesity rates are about three times higher than the state average.

Both evidence-based treatment programs will focus on weight-related behaviors of 8- to 12-year-old obese children, the home environment and parent role modeling. The first program, iChoose, includes family educational classes, exercise classes, support calls for parents and a newsletter for children. The second program, Family Connections, includes parent educational classes and automated telephone support calls that focus additional parenting skills to support healthful eating and physical activity.

The goal of this three-year study is to compare how well the programs help families eat healthier, become more active and achieve a healthy body weight. Approximately 180 families are expected to enroll in the study.

Researchers will work with schools, pediatrics providers and community organizations within a Community Advisory Board in the Danville, Va., area that contributed to the development of the research plan and will provide direction in continuing the program.

The study also will include a Parent Advisory Team that will support investigators and families to develop strategies to recruit families and keep them engaged over the course of the study.

“This is a great project that combines state of the art science with community ingenuity,” said Paul Estabrooks, Ph.D., the Harold M. Maurer Distinguished Chair in Public Health at UNMC and one of the study’s principal investigators.

“Our ultimate goal is to figure out the best types of programs that can help families living in small cities and rural areas where resources to support childhood obesity treatment may be spread across a number of local organizations – or not even exist in the community at all.”

Jamie Zoellner, Ph.D., associate professor in the UVA School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health Sciences, is the study’s other principal investigator and also leads the Community Advisory Board.

Jennie Hill, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology in the UNMC College of Public Health, is a collaborating investigator on the project.