Strategies for Effective Eating Development-SEEDS: Design of an Obesity Prevention Program to Promote Healthy Food Preferences and Eating Self-Regulation in Children From Low-Income Families

Abstract

Objective: To develop a scientifically based childhood obesity prevention program supporting child eating self-regulation and taste preferences. This article describes the research methods for the Strategies for Effective Eating Development program. A logic model is provided that depicts a visual presentation of the activities that will be used to guide the development of the prevention program.

Design: Randomized, controlled prevention program, pretest, posttest, 6 months, and 12 months.

Setting: Two sites: Houston, TX and Pasco, WA. Each trial will last 7 weeks with 8-10 mother-child dyads in each arm (prevention and control).

Participants: Recruitment at Head Start districts (Texas; n = 160) and Inspire Child Development Center including Early Childhood Education and Head Start (Washington; n = 160). Sixteen trials with 16-20 parent-child dyads per trial will provide adequate power to detect moderate effects.

Intervention: Multicomponent family-based prevention program incorporating a dialogue approach to adult learning and self-determination theory.

Main outcome measures: Child assessments will include observed taste preferences, caloric compensation, and eating in the absence of hunger. Parent assessments will include parent-reported feeding, feeding emotions, acculturation, child eating behaviors, child food preferences, and child dietary intake. Heights and weights will be measured for parent and child.

Analysis: A multilevel growth modeling analysis will be employed to consider the nested nature of the data: time points (level 1) within families (level 2) within trials (level 3).

Keywords: child eating self-regulation; childhood obesity; family-based; food preferences; prevention program.