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Completed

NCT Number: NCT06981429

A Positive Food Parenting Intervention to Promote Healthy Growth in Children at Risk for Obesity

This study is the pilot of a 12 - week positive food parenting intervention focused on structure-based and autonomy promoting practices. The intervention aims to give parents the tools to promote healthy child growth and improve diet quality. The investigators are piloting to assess feasibility and efficacy of the intervention through examining participant retention, impact on parent feeding practices, and impact on parent and child diet quality.

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Key information

Conditions

Pediatric Obesity Body Weight Nutrition Disorder Nutrition Disorders Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases Obesity Overnutrition Overweight Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms

Age range

5 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

State University of New York at Buffalo, South Campus

Buffalo, New York, 14214, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

PARENT CRITERIA:

Inclusion criteria

  • Age > 18 years old.
  • Have a child between the ages of 5 - 11 who is at risk for obesity (child BMI percentile > 85th) or parent it concerned about their child developing overweight or obesity
  • Low use of positive food parenting (Defined as: low reports of individual nutrition education/ knowledge OR reports low levels of structure, involvement, or encouragement in their food parenting practices)
  • Must be responsible for feeding their eligible child at least 50% of the time.
  • Fluent in English.
  • Have access to internet and a Zoom compatible device.

Exclusion criteria

  • Age is < 18 years old. Their child is determined ineligible (based on BMI percentile and age).
  • Does not report low use of positive food parenting (as defined above).
  • Is responsible for feeding their eligible child < 50% of the time.
  • Not fluent in English.
  • Does not have access to internet and a Zoom compatible device.
  • On medication that could influence their eating or feeding behaviors.

CHILD CRITERIA:

Inclusion criteria

  • Their parent/ guardian is eligible and participating in the study.
  • Ages 5 - 11
  • Is not current diagnosed with a clinical eating disorder (ED).
  • Is not on any medications, or have any conditions, that could influence the child's taste, appetite, or olfactory sensory responsiveness.

Exclusion criteria

  • Their parent/ guardian is not eligible nor participating in the study.
  • Below the age of 5 and above the age of 11.
  • BMI percentile < 85th and/or > 97th.
  • Current diagnosis of a clinical eating disorder (ED)
  • Medications or conditions that could influence the child's taste, appetite, or olfactory sensory responsiveness.

Treatment and study plan

Nourish to Flourish: The Power of Positive Food Parenting

Behavioral

This intervention focuses on increasing diet quality and parent use of positive food parenting practices with the goal of promoting healthy child growth). This will be a 12 - week, 12 session study. Sessions 1 and 12 will consist of collection baseline and post-intervention data. Sessions 2 - 11 will be a mix of online - group sessions and individual online or in - person sessions (based on participant preference). The group sessions are focused on principal investigator presentation of the intervention curriculum and group discussion. The individual sessions are focused on goal setting, coping planning, and working through individual situations with a trained coach.

Primary outcomes

  1. Parent use of structure - based and autonomy - promoting parent feeding practices.

    Time frame: Session 1 (week 1) to Session 12 (week 12)

    Compare responses to validated questionnaires measuring food parenting practices from session 1 to session 12.

  2. Parent and Child Diet Quality

    Time frame: Session 1 (week 1) and Session 12 (week 12)

    Compare change in parent and child healthy eating index (HEI) from session 1 to session 12. The healthy eating index (HEI) is a measure of how a participants diet aligns with the recommendations by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Dietary Guidelines). Possible scores range from 0 (does not align at all with recommendations by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans) to 100 (perfectly aligns with recommendations by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans). Higher scores mean a better outcome.

  3. Parent BMI and Child zBMI

    Time frame: Session 1 (week 1) and Session 12 (week 12)

    Change in parent BMI and child zBMI from session 1 to session 12.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

State University of New York at Buffalo

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
May 20, 2025
Registry last updated
Jul 13, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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