Education and Training

Addressing Health Literacy and Numeracy to Prevent Childhood Obesity

In 2003, Surgeon General Richard Carmona suggested that low health literacy is "one of the largest contributors to our nation's epidemic of overweight and obesity." Over 26% of preschool children are now overweight or obese, and children who are overweight by age 24 months are five times as likely as non-overweight children to become overweight adolescents. The aim of the study is to assess the efficacy of a low-literacy/numeracy-oriented intervention aimed at teaching pediatric resident physicians to promote healthy family lifestyles and prevent overweight among young children (age 0-2) and their families in under-resourced communities.

Stanford is currently not accepting patients for this trial.

Stanford Investigator(s):

Intervention(s):

  • behavioral: Health Communication and Obesity Prevention
  • behavioral: Injury Prevention Arm

Eligibility


Specific Inclusion Criteria at the parent-child dyad level will include:

   - Consent from a primary caregiver (i.e., parent or legal guardian)

   - Caregiver's ability to speak English or Spanish

   - Infant presenting for a 2 month well-child visit (child is 6 ≥ 12 weeks old)

   - Caregiver agrees to participate in the study, and agrees to bring their child to all
   well-child care visits until their 2 year well-child care visit.

Specific Exclusion Criteria at the parent-child dyad level will include:

   - Child born prior to 32 weeks' gestational age or with a birth weight < 1500 grams

   - Child with weight/length < 3rd percentile at 2 months of age

   - Child with a diagnosis of failure to thrive or with weight that has dropped ≥ 2
   percentile curves since the previous well child visit

   - Child with known medical problems that may affect their ability to thrive or requires
   a special diet (e.g. metabolic disease, uncorrected congenital heart disease, renal
   disease, lung disease)

   - Caregiver with significant mental or neurologic illness likely to impair their ability
   to participate

   - Caregiver age < 18 years

   - Caregiver with known plans to move out of the immediate area during the study period

   - Caregiver with poor visual acuity (i.e. vision worse than 20/50 with Rosenbaum Pocket
   Screener as assessed at the time of recruitment)

Specific Inclusion Criteria at the Pediatric Resident level will include:

   - Participation in the medical center's pediatric resident training program

   - Providing regular care (> 3 sessions per month) in the pediatric resident primary care
   clinic; AND

   - Consent to participate in the study

Specific Exclusion Criteria at the Pediatric Resident level will include:

   - Providing no regular care in the pediatric resident primary care clinic (e.g.,
   transitional-year resident, Medicine/Pediatrics resident); OR

   - Known plans to leave the training program during the ensuing 6 months

Ages Eligible for Study

6 Weeks - 12 Weeks

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Not currently accepting new patients for this trial

Contact Information

Stanford University
School of Medicine
300 Pasteur Drive
Stanford, CA 94305
Not Recruiting