FIT Families Multicomponent Obesity Intervention for African American Adolescents

Summary

Obesity is one of the most prevalent medical problems facing children and adolescents today, particularly among African American adolescents where the rate is alarmingly high. This study will test the effectiveness of FIT Families, a multicomponent family-based behavioral intervention that is culturally tailored to meet the unique needs of African American adolescents with obesity and their caregivers, against a credible attention control condition. This study has considerable public health relevance because it is delivered by Community Health Workers, maximizing the potential for the intervention to be sustained, and may reduce obesity-related health problems for a vulnerable population of adolescents.

Conditions

• Obesity, Childhood
• Metabolic Syndrome

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

FIT

FIT Families is a home-based intervention that works with youth and caregivers to lose weight and improve their health. The intervention lasts 6 months. Sessions are held twice a week for the first 3 months and then once a week for the second 3 months. These sessions will take place in home with a community health worker. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to earn prizes for completing certain intervention related tasks.

BEHAVIORAL

Home-Based Family Support

Home-Based Family Support Group will receive six months of weekly family counseling in the home. The weekly visits have 3 goals: 1) provide basic education in nutrition and physical recommendations for adolescent and adult obesity; 2) assess and monitor weight, physical activity, and diet via logs; and 3) offer opportunities to discuss barriers they identify to adherence to weight loss recommendations. The HBFS CHW will also address non-weight related problems such as peer or family relationship problems during the visits.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

  collaborator NIH

• Florida State University

  collaborator OTHER

• Wayne State University

  collaborator OTHER

• Medical University of South Carolina

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mohan Madisetti, Ph.D. · Medical University of South Carolina

• Phillippe B Cunningham, PhD · UTHealth

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

12 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-05-01

Primary Completion

2026-09-30

Completion

2026-11-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations