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Learning Objective 1: Discuss the feasibility and acceptability of the Healthy Choices Intervention Program in pediatric primary care.
Learning Objective 2: Discuss cognitive behavior skills building as a technique to enhance participant engagement and treatment fidelity of the Healthy Choices Intervention Program.
Purpose: To discuss the feasibility and acceptability of the Healthy Choices Intervention Program (HCI), a pediatric obesity intervention intended for healthcare providers to utilize in primary care.
Methods: HCI is a manualized seven session clinic and telephone intervention that provides guidance and education to parents and overweight and obese 9-12 year old children utilizing Cognitive Behavior Theory, and nutrition and physical activity counseling. The intervention was delivered by alternating weekly in-person clinic meetings with telephone sessions. Children and parents completed daily pedometer, food diary, goal sheets, and mood logs. Participants also completed homework assignments after each clinic and telephone session.
Results: A convenience sample of 17 parent-child dyads participated in this pilot. The child’s mean age is 129 months (SD = 15 months); parent’s mean age is 39.76 years (SD = 7.92 years).The child’s mean BMI for this sample is 26.1 (SD = 3.13); parent mean BMI is 34.0 (SD = 7.56). The children’s mean BMI percentile is .96 (SD = .04) with BMI percentile ranged from .859 to .992. Six families (35%) identify as Hispanic; 11 (65%) families as Caucasian.
Implications: The HCI program was enthusiastically endorsed by all of the participating families. Delivering this intervention in primary care was determined to be feasible and acceptable. Cue recognition, goal setting, and monitoring of daily activities measured participant engagement and build intervention fidelity.