NP10 Obesity Risk, Parenting and Diet Quality Tools for Hispanic Families with Preschoolers: EFNEP, Head Start, Medical Clinic-Year 4

Abstract

Objectives To validate two pediatric obesity risk assessment tools for low-income Spanish speaking parents and one diet quality tool; determine the feasibility of EFNEP embedded in a medical clinic; coordinate an AFRI obesity grant program journal supplement. Description The focus of year four (Y4) was to complete participant data collection and entry to validate assessment tools. Enrollment for the EFNEP intervention concluded with post surveys and in-person interviews administered after each of 21 intervention rounds. Evaluation Hispanic (> 99%) parents (n = 239) from WIC or Head Start completed the five data collection points and a blood sample (n = 169 children). Children were classified as being overweight (10%) or obese (16%). Children in the highest BMI percentile-for-age quartile have significantly higher lipid (229 ± 82), and metabolic (118 ± 33) indices, and larger waist circumference (58.8 ± 5.7) than children in the lowest BMI percentile-for-age quartile (188 ± 95, 95 ± 38, 49.9 ± 2.6, respectively). A sample of 60 families were videotaped at mealtime and all of the videotapes have been coded for parent behaviors and 20% for child behaviors. One-hundred and five parents attended at least one EFNEP session who were referred by their child's pediatrician. All parents engaged in setting nutrition and parenting goals and 71 parents were interviewed to assess the relevance of Motivational Modeling & feasibility of attending EFNEP intervention. In addition, cultural adaptation and design were completed for Mis Vegetales, a vegetable variety tool to measure diet quality. The HK website was also updated to include Spanish language versions of Healthy Kids (HK) and My Child at Meal Time and the newly validated HK 19-item tool http://healthykids.ucdavis.edu/ . Journal supplement planning began with communication to project directors and three journals were contacted for comparison bids. Conclusion and Implications Products and findings can support efforts to reduce childhood obesity risk in low-income Spanish-speaking families by providing valid tools to identifying risky nutrition and parenting behaviors and illustrating their utility in expanding EFNEP's reach to medical clinics.