The impact of a child obesity treatment intervention on parent child-feeding practices

Background: Effective treatment of childhood obesity requires a multi-factorial approach and should target factors impacting on a child's environment. Objective: To explore the impact of three treatment programs on parental child-feeding practices at 6, 12 and 24 months post-program. Subjects/Intervention. Overweight children (n=159) aged 5–7 years, recruited to the Hunter Illawarra Kids Challenge Using Parent Support (HIKCUPS) randomized controlled trial with three treatment arms; a dietary modification program, a physical activity skill development program or a combination of both programs. Main outcome measures: The Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ), a validated 31-item questionnaire measuring child-feeding practices, completed by parents. Statistical analysis. Linear mixed models were used to assess change over time and to determine differences by intervention group. Results: A significant decrease (p<0.01) in CFQ domain scores were reported and sustained at 24 months for all groups, in the domain of pressure to eat (mean±SEM, 1.8±0.06, 1.6±0.06) with increases in degree of monitoring (4.0±0.07, 4.2±0.06). The domain of restriction showed significant decreases in dietary intervention groups only (baseline 3.9±0.05, 24 months 3.7±0.06), the domain scores for concern were found to be strongly associated with child BMI z-score (r=0.73, p < 0.001) at baseline only. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that specific child-feeding domains are modifiable in the context of a targeted obesity intervention and further that changes can be sustained over time.