Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Apr;51(4):314-20.
doi: 10.1177/0009922811423310. Epub 2011 Oct 12.

Can the Internet be used to reach parents for family-based childhood obesity interventions?

Katherine H Hohman  1 , Sarah N Price, Kendrin Sonneville, Sheryl L Rifas-Shiman, Steven L Gortmaker, Matthew W Gillman, Elsie M Taveras
Affiliations

Can the Internet be used to reach parents for family-based childhood obesity interventions?

Katherine H Hohman et al. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2012 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to identify socioeconomic correlates of computer/Internet use among parents of overweight preschool-aged children.

Methods: A total of 470 baseline participants in a trial to prevent obesity in children 2 to 6.9 years old with body mass index ≥ 95th percentile or 85th to 95th percentile with one overweight parent were studied. Interviews with parents used Health Information National Trends Survey questions.

Results/conclusions: Overall, 94% of the participants had home computers and 93% reported Internet usage. In adjusted models, parents with ≤ college degree (odds ratio = 4.8; 95% confidence interval = 1.2-18.3) or with household income ≤$50,000 (odds ratio = 7.6; 95% confidence interval = 2.2-26.8) had decreased likelihood of computer ownership. Of parents who reported going online, 63% used Internet to look for health/medical information for themselves and 42% for their children. Parents with ≤ a college degree or with body mass index <25 kg/m(2) were less likely to use Internet. Results support using the Internet for early childhood obesity prevention with enhanced outreach efforts for low socioeconomic status families.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00377767.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

References

    1. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Flegal KM. High Body Mass Index for Age Among US Children and Adolescents, 2003—2006. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2008;299(20):2401–2405. - PubMed
    1. National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2007. Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service; 2007. Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. - PubMed
    1. Dietz WH. Health consequences of obesity in youth: Childhood predictors of adult disease. Pediatrics. 1998;101(3 Pt 2):518–525. - PubMed
    1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General’s call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2001.
    1. Whitaker RC, Wright JA, Pepe MS, Seidel KD, Dietz WH., Jr Predicting obesity in young adulthood from childhood and parental obesity. N Engl J Med. 1997;337:869–873. - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data