Foundations of Fitness Program Pilot

Approximately 17% of US children have obesity resulting in significant childhood co-morbidities and increased lifetime risk of adult obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Guidelines recommend intensive lifestyle programs as first-line treatment, yet few pediatric practices are equipped to provide this. Clinical-community partnerships are well-positioned to address this care gap. This proposal aims to assess whether a community-delivered lifestyle program offered in adjunct to primary care obesity management is feasible, acceptable, effective, and easily implemented in a rural care setting. In this study, approximately 40 children aged 7-13 years old and their caregiver pairs will be recruited from a primary care pediatric clinic. Child-adult dyads will participate in a 24-week program that includes 2 phases, a 12-week usual care phase and a 12-week intervention phase. The intervention phase will include bi-weekly meetings of a community intensive lifestyle program which focuses on healthy diet, daily physical activity, self-esteem and support for individual and family behavior change. A mixed-methods approach using qualitative interviews and study questionnaires, combined with objective measures of adiposity and fitness will assess study outcomes.