Implementation of a Scalable Family-Based Behavioral Treatment for Childhood Obesity Delivered through Primary Care Clinics: Description of the Missouri Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Study Protocol

Evaluating the Implementation of the Connect for Health Pediatric Weight Management Program

Importance

Adoption of primary care interventions to reduce childhood obesity is limited. Progress in reducing obesity prevalence and eliminating disparities can be achieved by implementing effective childhood obesity management interventions in primary care settings.

Objective

To examine the extent to which implementation strategies supported the uptake of research evidence and implementation of the Connect for Health pediatric weight management program.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This quality improvement study took place at 3 geographically and demographically diverse health care organizations with substantially high numbers of children living in low-income communities in Denver, Colorado; Boston, Massachusetts; and Greenville, South Carolina, from November 2019 to April 2022. Participants included pediatric primary care clinicians and staff and families with children aged 2 to 12 years with a body mass index (BMI) in the 85th percentile or higher.

Exposures

Pediatric weight management program with clinician-facing tools (ie, clinical decision support tools) and family-facing tools (ie, educational handouts, text messaging program, community resource guide) along with implementation strategies (ie, training and feedback, technical assistance, virtual learning community, aligning with hospital performance metrics) to support the uptake.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Primary outcomes were constructs from the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) Framework examined through parent, clinician, and leadership surveys and electronic health record data to understand the number of children screened and identified, use of the clinical decision support tools, program acceptability, fidelity to the intervention and implementation strategies, and program sustainability.

Results

The program screened and identified 18 333 children across 3 organizations (Denver Health, 8480 children [46.3%]; mean [SD] age, 7.97 [3.31] years; 3863 [45.5%] female; Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), 6190 children [33.8%]; mean [SD] age, 7.49 [3.19] years; 2920 [47.2%] female; Prisma Health, 3663 children [20.0%]; mean [SD] age, 7.33 [3.15] years; 1692 [46.2%] female) as having an elevated BMI. The actionable flagging system was used for 8718 children (48%). The reach was equitable, with 7843 children (92.4%) from Denver Health, 4071 children (65.8%) from MGH, and 1720 children (47%) from Prisma Health being from racially and ethnically minoritized groups. The sites had high fidelity to the program and 6 implementation strategies, with 4 strategies (67%) used consistently at Denver Health, 6 (100%) at MGH, and 5 (83%) at Prisma Health. A high program acceptability was found across the 3 health care organizations; for example, the mean (SD) Acceptability of Intervention Measure score was 3.72 (0.84) at Denver Health, 3.82 (0.86) at MGH, and 4.28 (0.68) at Prisma Health. The implementation strategies were associated with 7091 (39%) uses of the clinical decision support tool. The mean (SD) program sustainability scores were 4.46 (1.61) at Denver Health, 5.63 (1.28) at MGH, and 5.54 (0.92) at Prisma Health.

Conclusions and Relevance

These findings suggest that by understanding what strategies enable the adoption of scalable and implementation-ready programs by other health care organizations, it is feasible to improve the screening, identification, and management of children with overweight or obesity and mitigate existing disparities.

Randomized control trial of a childhood obesity prevention family-based program: "Abriendo Caminos" and effects on BMI

Background

Hispanic individuals are at increased risk for obesity and other chronic health conditions. This article evaluates the effect of a family-based, childhood obesity primary prevention intervention in a community setting.

Methods

A multi-site, randomized controlled trial community program with assessments at pre (T0), post-program (T1), and 6-months post-program (T2). Participating families were recruited from five sites. Only families of Mexican or Puerto Rican heritage with a least one child between 6 and 18 years were included in the study, without weight restrictions. Families were randomized to the intervention and control arms. Intervention families received six-2 h weekly workshops. Control families received printed generic nutrition and wellness information. Heights and weights were measured at the 3-time points to calculate BMI z-scores, BMI-percentiles, and weight status using age- and sex-specific growth charts, according to the CDC guidelines.

Results

There were no differences in BMI-z scores between children in the intervention (n = 239) and control groups (n = 187) at T0. BMI z-scores decreased in the intervention group (-0.03, 95% CI, -0.066, -0.003, p = 0.032) at T1, but not in the control group at T1. Changes in BMI z-scores were not statistically significant at T2.

Conclusion

The Abriendo Caminos intervention effectively prevented unhealthy weight gain in Hispanic children in the short-term, but not at 6-months post-intervention. Younger children and girls benefited more from the program at 6-months post-intervention. Additional efforts are needed to sustain long-term changes. Culturally-tailored programs can provide families with the knowledge to produce short-term changes and a potential pathway for sustainable changes in implementing healthy behaviors.

Translating Family-Based Behavioral Treatment for Childhood Obesity into a User-Friendly Digital Package for Delivery to Low-Income Families through Primary Care Partnerships: The MO-CORD Study

Background: Significant gaps exist in access to evidence-based pediatric weight management interventions, especially for low-income families. As a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration project 3.0 (CORD), the Missouri CORD (MO-CORD) team aims to increase access to and dissemination of an efficacious pediatric obesity treatment, family-based behavioral treatment (FBT), among low-income families. This article describes the MO-CORD team's approach to translating FBT into a digital package for delivery to low-income families through primary care practices. Methods: Using digital technology, the primary care setting, and existing reimbursement mechanisms, the MO-CORD team is developing a scalable user-centered design informed treatment package of FBT. This package will be implemented in primary care clinics and delivered to children (5-12 years) with obesity from low-income households in rural and urban communities. The digital platform includes three main components: (1) provider and interventionist training, (2) interventionist-facing materials, and (3) family-facing treatment materials. User-centered design techniques and continuous iterative stakeholder feedback are utilized to emphasize tailoring to a low-income population, along with scalability and sustainability of the digital package. Conclusions: The MO-CORD project addresses the critical need to increase access to obesity treatment for children from low-income households and establishes a platform for future large-scale (i.e., nation-wide) dissemination of evidence-based pediatric weight-management interventions. This study determines whether the digital FBT package can be implemented within real-world settings to create a system by which children with obesity and their families can be effectively treated in primary care settings.