The CHEER study to reduce BMI in Elementary School students: a school-based, parent-directed study in Framingham, Massachusetts

Abstract

Childhood obesity may be lessened by parent-focused interventions. A pilot parent-directed trial with 46 parents of overweight and obese elementary school students was conducted at two ethnically diverse public schools in Framingham, Massachusetts. Parents were randomly assigned to either the Materials Group, which received mailed educational materials, or the Materials plus Personal Encounters Group, which received educational materials through interactions with community health workers (CHWs). Parents completed baseline and post-intervention surveys; children's body mass index (BMI) percentiles were measured at baseline and post-intervention. There were no differences in the reduction of children's BMI between groups. However, the mean BMI percentile for all children dropped from 94.1 to 90.6 (p = .005), while there was no change in BMI among a nonrandomized contemporaneous control group. Findings are limited by the lack of a true control group and small sample size. Results from this school nurse and CHW outreach program to parents are encouraging.