A Positive Food Parenting Intervention to Promote Healthy Growth in Children at Risk for Obesity

NCT06981429 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: STUDY00008522R03DK138232
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 36
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study is the pilot of a 12 - week positive food parenting intervention focused on structure-based and autonomy promoting practices. The intervention aims to give parents the tools to promote healthy child growth and improve diet quality. The investigators are piloting to assess feasibility and efficacy of the intervention through examining participant retention, impact on parent feeding practices, and impact on parent and child diet quality.

Conditions

Pediatric Obesity; Nutrition Disorder

Keywords

children; parenting; parent feeding practices; food parenting; obesity risk; positive food parenting; autonomy promotion; structure - based food parenting

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Parent use of structure - based and autonomy - promoting parent feeding practices.

  Compare responses to validated questionnaires measuring food parenting practices from session 1 to session 12.

  Session 1 (week 1) to Session 12 (week 12)

• Parent and Child Diet Quality

  Compare change in parent and child healthy eating index (HEI) from session 1 to session 12. The healthy eating index (HEI) is a measure of how a participants diet aligns with the recommendations by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Dietary Guidelines). Possible scores range from 0 (does not align at all with recommendations by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans) to 100 (perfectly aligns with recommendations by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans). Higher scores mean a better outcome.

  Session 1 (week 1) and Session 12 (week 12)

• Parent BMI and Child zBMI

  Change in parent BMI and child zBMI from session 1 to session 12.

  Session 1 (week 1) and Session 12 (week 12)

Study Arms (2)

Experimental Group - Positive Food Parenting Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants randomly assigned to the experimental group.

Behavioral: Nourish to Flourish: The Power of Positive Food Parenting

Control Group

NO INTERVENTION

Participants randomly assigned to the control group.

Interventions

Nourish to Flourish: The Power of Positive Food Parenting BEHAVIORAL

This intervention focuses on increasing diet quality and parent use of positive food parenting practices with the goal of promoting healthy child growth). This will be a 12 - week, 12 session study. Sessions 1 and 12 will consist of collection baseline and post-intervention data. Sessions 2 - 11 will be a mix of online - group sessions and individual online or in - person sessions (based on participant preference). The group sessions are focused on principal investigator presentation of the intervention curriculum and group discussion. The individual sessions are focused on goal setting, coping planning, and working through individual situations with a trained coach.

Experimental Group - Positive Food Parenting Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 5 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age \> 18 years old.
• Have a child between the ages of 5 - 11 who is at risk for obesity (child BMI percentile \> 85th) or parent it concerned about their child developing overweight or obesity
• Low use of positive food parenting (Defined as: low reports of individual nutrition education/ knowledge OR reports low levels of structure, involvement, or encouragement in their food parenting practices)
• Must be responsible for feeding their eligible child at least 50% of the time.
• Fluent in English.
• Have access to internet and a Zoom compatible device.

You may not qualify if:

• Age is \< 18 years old. Their child is determined ineligible (based on BMI percentile and age).
• Does not report low use of positive food parenting (as defined above).
• Is responsible for feeding their eligible child \< 50% of the time.
• Not fluent in English.
• Does not have access to internet and a Zoom compatible device.
• On medication that could influence their eating or feeding behaviors.
• CHILD CRITERIA:
• Their parent/ guardian is eligible and participating in the study.
• Ages 5 - 11
• Is not current diagnosed with a clinical eating disorder (ED).
• Is not on any medications, or have any conditions, that could influence the child's taste, appetite, or olfactory sensory responsiveness.
• Their parent/ guardian is not eligible nor participating in the study.
• Below the age of 5 and above the age of 11.
• BMI percentile \< 85th and/or \> 97th.
• Current diagnosis of a clinical eating disorder (ED)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• State University of New York at Buffalo: lead
• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

State University of New York at Buffalo, South Campus

Buffalo, New York, 14214, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pediatric Obesity; Nutrition Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Obesity; Overweight; Overnutrition; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Katherine N Balantekin, PhD, RD

  Assistant Professor, University at Buffalo

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Katherine N Balantekin, PhD, RD

CONTACT

(716) 829-5578; knbalant@buffalo.edu

Hannah E Kolpack, BS

CONTACT

(716) 829 - 5820; hkolpack@buffalo.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: Participants will either be assigned to the control group or the experimental group. The control group will participate in a 10 - session 'promoting healthy development in middle childhood' program. The experimental group will be receiving the intervention.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 6, 2025
• First Posted: May 20, 2025
• Study Start: May 19, 2025
• Primary Completion: February 26, 2026
• Study Completion: February 26, 2026
• Last Updated: May 29, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Locations

US (1)