Obesity and Caries in Young South Asian Children: A Common Risk Factor Approach

CHALO builds upon the team's prior research re: cariogenic (R34-DE-022282) and obesogenic behaviors (10, 14, 15). CHALO's intervention components-- home visits, phone support, and "patient navigation" to dental visits-- proved to be feasible and acceptable. In the pilot R34, there were promising behavioral change on all measures. CHALO builds on this work, with the addition of: a) sippy cups as an intervention target, b) an iPad-based dietary recall tool, "MySmileBuddy," c) caries and obesity data, and; d) increased intervention contacts- consistent with recent child obesity and caries interventions (16, 17).

An RCT (Aim 1) will enroll 360 mothers of children 4-6 month olds from New York City (n=3) and New Jersey (n=2) pediatric practices in SAPPHIRE ("SA Practice Partnership for Health Improvement and Research"). The Community Health Worker intervention includes: a) home visits with mothers/families (n=6 visits over one year) and follow up telephone support; b) patient navigation to make/keep timely dental visits (2x by 18 months). The Knowledge Translation component (Aim 2) will raise awareness of child health risks in SA communities and among professionals who provide their care. The campaign will include both traditional and social media components and will be evaluated using multiple metrics.

Inclusion criteria

• Age: Child is < 6 months of age at time of recruitment
• Insurance: Child is enrolled in either Medicaid or CHIP
• Nativity- Mother was born in India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh)
• Language- Mother speaks standard Bengali, English or Hindi/Urdu
• Agency- Mother is index child's primary caretaker.

Exclusion criteria

• Inability to provide informed consent per RA judgment
• Plans to travel for > 1 month during follow-up, and
• child health condition barring participation (per pediatrician review of recruitment lists).