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
Review
. 2016 Nov 8;3(4):24.
doi: 10.3390/children3040024.

Practicalities and Research Considerations for Conducting Childhood Obesity Prevention Interventions with Families

Philip J Morgan  1 , Rachel A Jones  2 , Clare E Collins  3 , Kylie D Hesketh  4 , Myles D Young  5 , Tracy L Burrows  6 , Anthea M Magarey  7 , Helen L Brown  8 , Trina Hinkley  9 , Rebecca A Perry  10 , Leah Brennan  11 , Alison C Spence  12 , Karen J Campbell  13
Affiliations
Review

Practicalities and Research Considerations for Conducting Childhood Obesity Prevention Interventions with Families

Philip J Morgan et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Internationally, childhood obesity is a major public health concern. Given the established difficulties in treating obesity, designing and evaluating effective obesity prevention interventions are research priorities. As parents play a crucial role in establishing positive health behaviours in children, they are a key target for child obesity prevention programs. However, recruiting and engaging parents in such interventions can be a considerable challenge for researchers and practitioners. Members of the 'Parenting, Child Behaviour and Well-being' stream of the Australasian Child and Adolescent Obesity Research Network (ACAORN) have considerable and varied expertise in conducting such interventions and can provide insights into addressing these challenges. This paper aims to highlight considerations regarding the design, implementation, and evaluation of obesity prevention interventions with families and provide practical insights and recommendations for researchers and practitioners conducting family-based research in this area. Case studies of three family-based interventions conducted by ACAORN members are highlighted to provide examples and contextualise the recommendations proposed.

Keywords: child obesity prevention; family-based; interventions; obesity; parents; prevention.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Ng M., Fleming T., Robinson M., Thomson B., Graetz N., Margono C., Mullany E.C., Biryukov S., Abbafati C., Abera S.F., et al. Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Lancet. 2014;384:766–781. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60460-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lobstein T., Baur L., Uauy R. Obesity in children and young people: A crisis in public health. Obes. Rev. 2004;5:4–85. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2004.00133.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Laws R., Campbell K.J., van der Pligt P., Russell G., Ball K., Lynch J., Crawford D., Taylor R., Askew D., Denney-Wilson E. The impact of interventions to prevent obesity or improve obesity related behaviours in children (0–5 years) from socioeconomically disadvantaged and/or indigenous families: A systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:779. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-779. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Oude Luttikhuis H., Baur L., Jansen H., Shrewsbury V.A., O’Malley C., Stolk R.P., Summerbell C.D. Interventions for treating obesity in children. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 2009 doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001872.pub2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cunningham S.A., Kramer M.R., Narayan K.M. Incidence of childhood obesity in the United States. N. Engl. J. Med. 2014;370:1660–1661. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1309753. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources