JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Family-focused interventions promoting lifestyle behaviours such as physical activity and healthy eating can be effective strategies for obesity management in children. To maximize public health impact, there is an urgent need to develop innovative solutions to improve the scalability of childhood obesity management interventions. Stand-alone web-based interventions are easily administered but may be hindered by low participant engagement and limited support. A blended intervention that includes both facilitated virtual group sessions and self-guided resources may enhance engagement, thereby optimizing improvements in children’s health outcomes. However, the long-term effectiveness of stand-alone vs. blended web-based interventions to manage childhood obesity have not yet been evaluated.

Objective:

The primary objective of this trial is to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of a blended web-based family-focused healthy living program (Early Intervention Program; EIP) relative to active control (self-guided web-based educational resources) in lowering BMI z-score in children with overweight or obesity over 12 months. The secondary objective is to examine intervention effects on children’s physical activity, dietary behaviours, and health-related quality of life as well as parental self-efficacy and motivation to support children’s lifestyle behaviours.

Methods:

This single-blind 2x4 trial aims to recruit 278 parent-child dyads across Canada to be randomly assigned to the EIP intervention group or an active control group (1:1 ratio). The 10 weeks of EIP activities have been designed based on the multi-process action control framework to support children and parents in learning behavioural change skills that will enable them to improve their healthy lifestyle behaviours, and the EIP delivery has been piloted previously. Families in the intervention group will receive weekly virtual group sessions and access to additional web-based resources and suggested activities. Families in the control group will receive access to 10 weeks of self-guided web-based educational resources only. Outcomes including child’s height and weight, daily physical activity, dietary behaviours, health-related quality of life, and parental support will be measured via online questionnaire at four assessment timepoints over one year (baseline, 10 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months). Intervention engagement and attrition will also be recorded. Multiple linear regression models will be used to examine the effectiveness of the EIP intervention compared to stand-alone web resources only.

Results:

This study was funded in 2020, with 270 participants enrolled between January 2021 and May 2024. The 12-month data collection period will end in June 2025. Study results will be disseminated via conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and other media channels.

Conclusions:

The blended web-based EIP healthy living program has the potential to become a scalable solution for prevention of obesity and related health conditions. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06777888