PRE-Pregnancy Weight Loss And the Reducing Effect on CHILDhood Overweight - Aarhus
Overweight and ObesityWeight Loss3 moreThe study is a single site parallel randomized controlled study. The study will be assessing the effect of a 10% pre-conceptional weight loss intervention vs a control group among healthy couples where the prospective mother is pregnant and overweight or obese (BMI 28-45 kg/m^2). The couples in intervention group will receive dietitian counseling and participate in physical activity sessions to attain the 10% weight loss. The overall objective is to test whether a comprehensive pre-conceptional parental weight loss intervention effectively reduces the risk of offspring overweight, and adiposity and its complications compared to a control group.
Food Form & Energy Intake
Appetite Self-regulationPediatric ObesityThis study primarily aims to examine how food presented in various forms (i.e., solid, semi-solid, and liquid) affects children's ability to self-regulate energy intake at a subsequent meal. Additionally, this study aims to examine how several child-level individual differences are associated with differences in various aspects of children's appetite self-regulation. The investigators will recruit 78 children between the ages of 4.5-6 years in order to test the primary hypothesis that energy presented in a liquid form will elicit poorer self-regulation than solid and semi-solid food forms.
Intervention INC: An Interactive Family-centered mHealth Tool to Reduce Obesity Risk in Urban Minority...
ObesityChildhoodUsing a two-group randomized study design, this study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the adapted family-centered mHealth tool on child BMI z-score (primary outcome), child dietary behaviors, and parental feeding practices, from baseline to 12-month follow-up, among 200 child-parent dyads. It is hypothesized that children in the experimental group will demonstrate larger BMI-z score improvements between baseline and 12-month follow-up compared to children in the comparison group.
SMART GOALS for Youth With Prediabetes
PreDiabetesAdolescent Obesity5 moreThe goal of this study is to compare the impact of a SMART ((specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, or timely) Goal setting protocol on body weight, metabolic parameters (Hemoglobin A1c, lipids), diet quality and physical activity frequency in obese children with prediabetes in the outpatient setting. The main question is if participants using the SMART Goal Setting Protocol (SGSP) will have a significant reduction. The participants randomized to the study group will receive the SGSP, consisting of the SMART Goal Selection Guide (SGSG) and Weekly Goal Monitoring Tool (WGMT), in BMI Z-score, A1c, and dyslipidemia in 6 months compared to controls.
Promoting Food Acceptance Through Positive Parenting: the Play and Grow Study
ObesityChildhood6 moreApproximately one half of adults and one-fifth of children have obesity, including 14% of 2-5-year-olds. Early obesity prevention is essential as children who are overweight by age 5 are at increased risk for later obesity. Dietary intake is inextricably linked to weight status, and the majority of young children fail to meet intake recommendations, with socioeconomically disadvantaged and racial/ethnic minority children at increased risk of poor diet quality. However, children's liking of healthier foods predicts their intake, and children can learn to like healthier foods via experience. The current study brings together evidence from the parenting and learning literatures to: 1) examine effects of a novel learning strategy leveraging positive parent-child interactions on 3-5-year-old children's vegetable acceptance and dietary intake, as well as to explore 2) individual differences in learning strategy effects.
Mental Health in Children and Youth Within Pediatric Care
Mental Health ImpairmentObesity2 moreOver the last decades, there has been an increase in the number of children and youth with mental illness, such as anxiety and depression. Mental illness in youth has a strong negative influence on the youth's quality of life and generally leads to dysfunction in several important areas, such as school and social activities. Early detection and treatment of mental illness entails great treatment benefits, and thus provide opportunity to prevent or reduce individual suffering. Youth who suffer från Medical conditions, such as diabetes, epilepsy, gastro-intestinal disease, and obesity, show an increased risk of developing mental illness. There are well-established, careful programs for examining somatic co-morbidities to diseases in children and youth. Currently, despite the fact that mental illness is more common in these children than medical sequelae and despite that such a procedure is recommended, no routine exist for examining mental health in children and youth presenting for treatment at pediatric clinics in Skåne. The absence of such a general screening entails that mental illness rarely is recognized by medical care providers until it has become severe. The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of mental illness in children and adolescents, 11-18 years of age, that undergo Medical treatment at a Clinic for children and youth. Groups recruited for the first part of the study are obesity clinics and gastro clinics. In addition, we want to examine if mental health affects outcome success in their medical treatment. The long-term main objective of this project is early discovery and treatment of mental illness in somatically ill children and youth, thereby preventing the development of severe mental illness, and to reduce suffering. By the end of the project we will have a well-functioning routine for examining mental health status in 11-18 years olds that present for and undergo treatment in Clinics for children and youth in Skåne. Furthermore, we hope that the screening tool can contribute to, and affect, nationally established guide-lines regarding the discovery and treatment of mental illness in children and adolescents within pediatric care.
Brain Mechanisms of Overeating in Children
Pediatric ObesityInhibition2 moreThe proposed research will follow healthy weight children who vary by family risk for obesity to identify the neurobiological and appetitive traits that are implicated in overeating and weight gain during the critical pre-adolescent period. The investigator's central hypothesis is that increased intake from large portions of energy dense foods is due in part to reduced activity in brain regions implicated in inhibitory control and decision making, combined with increased activity in reward processing pathways. To test this hypothesis, the investigators will recruit 120 healthy weight children, aged 7-8 years, at two levels of obesity risk (i.e., 60 high-risk and 60 low-risk) based on parent weight status. This will result in 240 participants: 120 children and their parents.
Effectiveness of a Telehealth-based Physical Activity Intervention
Physical InactivityObesity1 moreThis study is a 11 week telehealth intervention focusing on increasing physical activity in adolescents who are receiving medical care for obesity. The participants will be randomized into two groups: control and intervention. During the 11 weeks both groups will be contacted once a week for a video call. The control group will report their past week physical activity levels and the intervention group will review the material in weekly newsletters on behavior changes related to physical activity. Physical activity levels will be measures before and after the intervention.
The Bennett Kids PowerUP Project
ObesityChildhood1 moreThe study proposes a randomized pilot and feasibility study of a lifestyle modification program to promote healthy diet and activity in rural-dwelling children to reduce Type 2 Diabetes risks. Intervention participants will receive 6 months of programming to include: 16 activity packs; 9 health coach sessions; unlimited access to a resource toolbox. Control participants will receive 6 activity packs promoting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning and 6 check-in calls to support retention. Our specific aims are: Determine reach, feasibility, and acceptability of our intervention and a complementary control program in a randomized pilot study. Estimate the magnitude of the intervention's effect on diet, activity, and metabolic risk factors. Engage partners from additional rural communities to scale and evaluate the intervention in a clinical trial.
Healthy Kids Beyond the Bell: Investigating the Impact of After-School and Summer Programs
Health Status DisparitiesPediatric Obesity2 moreNearly one in five children are obese, and disparities in overweight and obesity between children from low- and middle-to-high-income households persist despite a multitude of school-based interventions. The structured days hypothesis posits that structure within a school day plays a protective role for children against obesogenic behaviors, and, ultimately, prevents the occurrence of excessive weight gain, thus, past school-based efforts are misplaced. This study will provide access to healthy structured programming via vouchers to afterschool programs and summer day camps during two "windows of vulnerability" (ie afterschool and summer) for low-income children.