Dietary Habits and Metabolic Response in Obese Children Whose Mothers Received an Intervention to Promote Healthy Eating

Summary

Unhealthy eating habits inside and outside the home lead to developing obesity, leading to clinical and metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and chronic degenerative diseases, which are the leading causes of death in adult life. The present study compared changes in dietary habits, behaviors and metabolic profiles of obese children whose mothers attended group sessions, with those who received the usual nutritional consultation.

The hypotheses were:

1. The mother's training in healthy eating methods, eliminating foods and nutrients that represent metabolic and cardiovascular risk, will change the consumption of these foods in the family, reducing them by 20% and increasing the consumption of food in the same proportion. beneficial, compared to the family of the child who only receives individual consultation.
2. Children with obesity who modify or eliminate metabolic and cardiovascular risk foods and nutrients from their normal diet will have a weight loss of -1.5 BMI compared to children who only receive the usual consultation.

Randomized clinical trial, 177 mother/obese child pairs participated, 90 in the intervention group (IG) and 87 in the control group (CG). The intervention group attended six group education sessions to promote healthy eating and 87 received the usual nutritional consultation, over a three-month period. Frequency of food consumption, behaviors during feeding in the house and metabolic profile was evaluated. Data was compared using Student's t or X2.

Conditions

• Obesity
• Child Obesity

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Family intervention

Topics covered in each session with intervention group mothers. 1. Dietary and physical activity habits and their link to obesity and cardio-metabolic diseases. Children learn about healthy eating habits and health risks at home. 2. Food-preparation processes. Selecting and purchasing food and beverages; importance of food groups and their impact on health; importance of fruit and vegetables. Balance between food groups, source of foods, organic or industrialized. Family menu preparation. 3. Habits and behaviors surrounding eating processes identified as health or risk factors, such as energy density, portion-size control, controlling emotional eating. 4. Beverages. Water versus sugar-sweetened drinks prepared at home or purchased at the store. 5. Preventing the risk of cardiovascular diseases by learning healthy eating habits and practicing these habits at home. 6. Integration. Practicing the skills learned during the intervention in each stage of preparing food and eating

OTHER

Usual nutritional consultation

Control group mothers and children (n = 87) were given the usual nutritional consultation and were prescribed diets that covered their energy requirements according to their age and sex. CG mother/child pairs received information regarding food groups and portion sizes, were trained in the use of the food equivalence system to encourage variation, and were instructed on how to prepare the diet at home.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hospital Infantil de Mexico Federico Gomez

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Iris Nayeli López-Contreras, MSc · Hospital Infantil de Mexico Federico Gomez

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

5 Years

Max Age

11 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-01-05

Primary Completion

2013-07-12

Completion

2013-11-30