Active clinical trials for "Obesity"

Obesity among Mexican-American women has the potential to become a public health crisis. Hispanics are one of the fastest growing minority populations in the United States and the prevalence of obesity in Mexican American woman is increasing at an alarming rate. Poor dietary practices, especially food habits that are acquired as families acculturate to the American food supply, and lack of exercise are thought to be associated with women's excess weight gain. Accordingly, interventions are needed to improve the dietary intake and physical activity levels of Mexican-American families. We propose to conduct a randomized clinical trial in which women are randomly assigned to receive either family-based behavioral counseling (FBC) sessions and play group physical activity sessions or group based nutrition and exercise classes and health related activity worksheets to complete with their child. The FBC sessions, conducted by community health advisors, will use photographs of the family's food practices, taken by mothers, as visual aids in the counseling sessions. The control intervention will consist of group sessions using curricula designed to motivate women to exercise and to promote the Food Guide Pyramid recommendations using traditional Mexican-American foods. The primary outcome of the trial is mother's BMI. The secondary outcomes are dietary intake, moderate to vigorous physical activity and household food supplies. We hypothesize that within a one year time frame, women who are exposed to the FBC will have lower BMI's compared to women who receive the active placebo control intervention. The mechanisms through which we intend to change weight status are altering the type of foods purchased and cooking practices and promoting mothers to engage in physical activities with their children during their play. Measurements of secondary outcomes include three 24 hour dietary recalls, a household food inventory and activity monitoring using MTI actigraph monitors. In addition, mothers' reports of household food security level, and food purchase motives, will be collected as covariates. Measurements will be collected within one month of completing the interventions and at six months and one year follow-up.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not Vitamin C (1000 mg/day) can reduce markers of inflammation, especially C-reactive protein (CRP), in obese persons with baseline CRP greater than 1 mg/dl.

The aim of this study is to test whether a parent-focused participatory intervention in addition to gym lessons can enhance preschoolers physical activity compared to gym lessons alone.

The prevalence of obesity has reached epidemic proportions nationally as well as internationally. Currently, 16 % of American adolescents are obese. In adults, obesity is a risk factor for vitamin D insufficiency and up to 80% of obese adults have been noted to vitamin D insufficient. In adults, low vitamin D status appears to be associated with the development of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. There is little information on the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and its implications in obese adolescents. Additionally, it is unknown whether treatment of vitamin D insufficiency in adolescents might result in improvement in insulin resistance, lipids and cardiovascular risk markers. We hypothesize that vitamin D insufficiency correlates positively with insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk in obese adolescents and that vitamin D3 supplementation improves insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk factors in this population. The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of vitamin D3 supplementation on various parameters of insulin secretion, insulin action, lipids and C-reactive protein in obese adolescents.

Preventing the onset of pediatric obesity and diabetes in Latino families The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial of a family-based community centered intervention. One-hundred Latino families with children ages 3-5 will be randomly allocated to either the intervention group (a 3-month skills building program to improve nutrition and aerobic activity for child-parent dyads) or a control group (literacy promotion). Through an active partnership with Nashville Metro Parks and Recreation and the Division of General Pediatrics at the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, the investigators will: 1) Implement an intervention for Latino families with young children that includes parent training, behavior modification training, nutrition education, and physical activity promotion; 2) Evaluate how this intervention affects growth trajectories in children; 3) Evaluate how this intervention affects parenting practices for Latino families to improve nutrition and physical activity; and 4) Evaluate the ability to link families into a pediatric medical home if they have none identified. By developing innovative family-focused interventions, finding solutions to health conditions such as obesity and diabetes could be realized-con la familia.

Walking to school is one of the objectives for children and adolescents in Healthy People 2010 and in previous studies was associated with higher levels of overall physical activity, which has been shown to decrease obesity. Therefore, more children walking to school should result in increased physical activity and presumably reduce obesity. However, increasing child pedestrian activity could increase the risk of child pedestrian injuries. Walking with an adult who provides instruction in pedestrian skills and monitors the child's actual behavior may be the most important component of a successful intervention. Walking with an adult reduced child pedestrian injury risk by almost 70%. A walking school bus (WSB) addresses safety concerns by providing a period of physical activity supervised by several responsible adults and teaching opportunities around pedestrian safety skills on the way to and from school. Children may join the WSB at various points along the set route. Despite the growing popularity of WSB programs in the United States, randomized, controlled-studies are lacking that examine the impact on children's safety, physical activity, and health. We seek to help fill this gap in the literature by piloting a WSB program in elementary schools in the Houston Independent School District to test feasibility. We hypothesize that a WSB program will: (1) increase the number of students walking to school and decrease the number of students driven to school by car, (2) increase students' pedestrian safety behaviors (3) increase students' physical activity, and (4) decrease students' excess weight gain.

The purpose of this study is to address the Healthy People 2010 obesity prevention objective. This study will test the effects of a comprehensive family weight management program on the BMI z-score of 7-12 year-old children with a BMI > 85th percentile who receive primary care in a large municipal Bronx hospital. The intervention framework will draw on social marketing theory and the transtheoretical model of behavioral change to incorporate successful obesity prevention strategies. A two-arm randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT), which will enroll (n =506) 7-12 year old children with a > 85th BMI percentile, will compare the Experimental Intensive Intervention to a Standard (Control) Intervention. The Standard Intervention will receive: 1) an initial consult, which includes an overview of lifestyle goals, 2)quarterly follow-up, 3) and a monthly newsletter. The Intensive Intervention will add: 1)12 core group modules for parents (to address roles and skills) and for children (to enhance motivation and skills and to provide physical activity), 3) Tailored support using a "toolbox" approach from community health workers as extensions of the Family Weight Management professional education staff, and 4) monthly after-core follow-up groups. The study will determine if children randomized to the Experimental Intensive Intervention will have greater improvement in BMI change (z-scores) than those randomized to the Control Standard Intervention. The study will also evaluate the effects on the Experimental Intervention on lifestyle variables and assess intervention costs. The RE-AIM evaluation will address: Reach: How many of the eligible children/ families were referred and how many of those referred actually enrolled? We will use BMI data in the computerized medical records to evaluate the proportion and the appropriateness of the referrals. Efficacy/Effectiveness: How did the Experimental intervention affect BMI (changes in z-score), and key biomarkers when followed as planned? Adoption: How acceptable were the intervention(s) to the primary care medical team and the children/families in the pediatric clinics etc? (from process measures and post intervention surveys) Implementation: How many of the intervention activities were provided as planned? Quality control measures will be used to evaluate the integrity of the intervention(s). Maintenance: How much of the intervention effect is sustainable? Individual effects will be evaluated based on the 24 month follow data. Institutional effects evaluation will include the potential to maintain services using third-party coverage.

This study explores the nutritional effects of fibre. Short chain fatty acid(SCFA), such as propionate, are produced through the fermentation of fibre in the bowel. SCFA are thought to have direct beneficial effects on the gut, appetite, weight and fat distribution. This study will look into these effects by conducting a dose finding study and then a randomised controlled study using healthy human volunteers.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-to-home education program for it's ability to increase knowledge about, and ability to prevent type two diabetes in children and parents.

The purpose of this clinical trial is to evaluate whether pre-oxygenation of obese patients with BiPAP 4cm H2O, renders any benefit to the quality of pre-oxygenation measured by the expired oxygen fraction (FeO2) and whether it is as well tolerated as the traditional method of spontaneous breathing for 3 minutes.