Intervention INC: An Interactive Family-Centered mHealth Tool to Reduce Obesity Risk in Urban Minority Preadolescents

Childhood obesity continues to be a serious public health issue in the United States, with disproportionate rates among minority children in families with low income. In previous AHRQ-funded research, researchers designed and developed an intervention named Intervention INC that consists of a multichapter interactive nutrition comic tailored to meet the needs and preferences of Black/African-American and Latino children ages 9 to 12 from families with low income and their parents and caregivers. This tool also includes a goal-setting and self-assessment feature, along with weekly text and video messages and reminders focused on behaviors to reduce childhood obesity risk. In this followup research, the team will extend the tool and evaluate its effectiveness in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). 

The specific aims of the research are as follows:

• Identify organizational and family perspectives of a family-centered mHealth tool and characteristics of the clinic and families relevant to tool implementation. 
• Adapt and extend Intervention INC to enhance its potential effectiveness and adoption within community-based clinics.
• Conduct a two-group RCT among 200 child-parent dyads.
• Explore contextual factors that influence the potential for future implementation of the adapted tool.

The research team will first conduct formative research with clinical staff and administrators as well as child-parent dyads to identify organizational and family characteristics relevant to implementing this tool in a clinic setting. The findings will inform the adaptation of the tool. A RCT will be conducted in community clinics with children who have body mass index (BMI)-for-age percentile at or greater than 85% at baseline (indicating they are overweight or obese) to test the effect of the adapted tool on children’s BMI, child dietary behaviors, and parental feeding practices. The team will also examine contextual factors at the clinic-, provider-, and family-level that influence tool implementation in a clinic setting. The research team hypothesizes that this family-centered, web-based tool with an innovative communication approach will enhance engagement with an often hard to reach, diverse population, and reduce childhood obesity risk. This study will also contribute to the limited evidence base of effective, culturally relevant mHealth tools to reduce childhood obesity risk in minority, at-risk populations.