Educating Parents Can Help Prevent Childhood Obesity

Obesity has negative short- and long-term health consequences for children, including a higher risk for adult obesity and associated illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and depression. Yet, according to research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children younger than 5 years of age likely to be overweight.

The risk of developing childhood obesity can result from how parents feed their infants. In a recent study, investigators developed a parent education plan using research from a variety of disciplines, including nutrition, pediatrics, child development, and family studies. The plan includes a handout to guide parents in the feeding behaviors of children, including recommendations to parents about age-appropriate nutrition and activity to help prevent the onset of obesity.

Recommendations that may prevent childhood obesity include:

• Breastfeeding infants for at least the first year of life.
• Using iron-fortified formula if using baby formula
• Introducing solid foods such as rice cereal and pureed vegetables after four months of age.
• Reintroducing healthy foods even if the infant does not like them at first.
• Learning infant cues for being full and stopping feeding when infants indicate they are no longer hungry.
• Including activity in the infant's daily life, including engaging children in family activities, preschool, and free play time.
• No television before age 2.
  

There is a great deal of valuable information in the relevant scientific literature on obesity. Health care providers offer important instruction and advice for parents to help prevent childhood obesity. The recommendations may help to prevent childhood obesity and the negative health consequences associated with it.

Knott County Teaches At-Risk Families about Nutrition

Nutrition is an important aspect of family life. At-risk families often have poor eating habits due to financial difficulties and lack of knowledge. Knott County Extension Service has worked with at-risk families to improve their eating choices and behaviors.

In 2006-2007, Knott County offered cooking classes to parenting groups. Local Head Start, Even Start, and Graduate Equivalent Program (GED) volunteers provided transportation for participants, incentives, and hands-on skills at the programs. Here are some of the highlights:

• The entire Extension staff worked with 212 parents in three cooking schools to provide information on budgeting, food safety, menu selection, grocery shopping techniques, and food preparation demonstrations.
• The participants planned the menus, prepared the food, decorated the tables, and helped with clean-up.
• 100% of the parents reported that they learned something new at each program.
• One father reported that he has started to help prepare family meals.
• Follow-up evaluations also have found an increase in food safety in the areas of food storage and food preparation.

Knott County has demonstrated there is more than one method available to teach needed family skills. These skills are important for improving the quality of life among at-risk families.

Parent education is effective across diverse families

Often when interventions are designed, little consideration is given to how the intervention might work for people of diverse backgrounds. However, a recent study has shown that the same parenting education program can be effective for parents of different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Researchers compared two separate but related studies of a parent education program based on Re-evaluation Counseling (RC). Specifically, they tried to determine whether the program was easily implemented and effective, whether the effects lasted, and whether the program was useful for populations. The first study involved 25 middle income, married mothers with at least one child younger than five years old. The second study involved 18 black mothers with children enrolled in Head Start. In both studies, mothers were assigned by chance to the parenting education group or to a comparison group. The researchers measured parental attitudes, parenting stress, and parenting practices before and after the parenting education intervention.

For both the middle-income white and low-income black mothers, the parenting education program:

• Reduced parenting-related stress.
• Improved parental attitudes.
• Encouraged authoritative parenting practices.

Debate continues over whether parent education programs need to be tailored for the individual needs of diverse populations. This study shows that even without addressing such factors directly, parent education can be effective with diverse families. However, the authors do not suggest that incorporating diversity issues should be left out or ignored. In fact, attention to issues of diversity may strengthen the effectiveness, decrease drop-out rates, increase accessibility, and help strengthen community bonds.

Parent education effective at reducing anxiety disorders in children

Childhood anxiety is an important issue in child development, and research has shown that parent education can help to reduce symptoms of childhood anxiety.

In one study, researchers tested a parent education program designed to reduce the development of anxiety in preschool children. Parents were selected if their children displayed a high number of behaviors that placed them at risk for later anxiety, including withdrawal from group interactions. The parents then were assigned by chance to one of two groups: the intervention group, which included a 6-session parent education program or no intervention. The parent education program was group-based and especially brief in order to make it accessible and practical for parents.

The researchers found:

• Children whose parents participated in the parent education program were less likely to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder after 12 months compared to children of parents who received no intervention.
• The brief intervention did not change children’s overall temperament, but the children were better able to manage symptoms.
  

Childhood anxiety has immediate and long-term negative consequences for children and their families. This study shows that parent education may be an important early intervention strategy for reducing the likelihood that a child is diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Programs can be designed to specifically address childhood anxiety and its symptoms or they can focus on issues surrounding anxiety, such as effects on school performance and family interactions. Both types of interventions have the potential to improve the quality of life for at-risk children and their families.

Parent education can decrease acting out behaviors in children

Research has shown that some parent education programs are beneficial and effective. In one study, investigators developed and tested a six-week program called, “Parenting the Strong-Willed Child (PSWC).” Seventy-one families with children ages 2 through 8 years who were enrolled in Head Start Centers participated in the free program. All children had high levels of acting out behaviors, including not following parents’ directions when they were disciplined.

At the end of the six-week PSWC program, parents reported several improvements.

• Their children reduced both the frequency and intensity of their behavioral problems.
• Parents saw a significant decrease in parenting stress
• Parents used fewer overly permissive parenting behaviors.
• Parents were less emotional reactive while disciplining their children.
• Improvements were maintained 6 months after the program ended.

Children who act out tend to make worse grades. These children also may cause disruptions that affect the quality of education for other students. This study demonstrates that targeted parent education programs can be helpful in decreasing child behavior problems, which can have positive effects not only on the children themselves, but also on their families and classmates.

Knox and Jackson Counties join forces to train child care providers

According to the 2002 U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP):

• 63 % of all children under age five are in some type of regular childcare arrangement.
• One-quarter of these children are cared for in organized facilities consisting of day care centers (13 %) and nursery or preschools (6 %).

To ensure that child care providers in these facilities are knowledgeable about proper childcare methods and developmental appropriate practices, all workers are state mandated to engage in twelve hours of training conducted by a certified provider.

Michelle Smith and Renata Farmer, the Jackson and Knox County Family and Consumer Sciences extension agents, both certified childcare providers, partnered to provide trainings to personnel from 20 different childcare organizations including in-home day cares, licensed day care organizations, and Family Resource Youth Service Centers. Ninety child care providers attended a minimum of six hours of training. In the past, most of these participants had to travel to neighboring counties for these trainings. Trainings focused on stress management, organizational skills, child abuse prevention, communication with parents, nutrition in the center, working with children with disabilities, implementing literacy and activities, child development and assessment, teaching self-control and approaching discipline. Eighty-five percent of participants reported an increase in knowledge and 75% reported that they planned to put this knowledge to use in their childcare facility.

Evaluations from the trainings revealed significant improvements in knowledge among participants.

• 90% gained new knowledge of child assessments, including the Dial 3.
• 80% engaged in learning activities focusing on modifying toys and activities for children with disabilities
• 65% learned new approaches to dealing with conflict between childcare staff and parents
• 75% were able to implement literacy strategies in other daily activities
• 50% acquired new knowledge on the 2005 dietary guidelines and were able to implement nutrition and physical activity into their centers.

The majority of parents with children under the age of five in the U.S. utilize child care services. Organizations that provide such services are mandated by the state to attend trainings that help ensure quality child care. Trainings have been shown to increase knowledge and help provide the information necessary for child care providers to implement beneficial strategies and procedures. The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, and specifically the Jackson and Knox County offices have demonstrated a strong commitment to and record of excellence in helping child care providers fulfill their training requirements.

Stop Smoking, Start Gaining?

Many people who smoke say they are afraid to stop smoking for fear of gaining weight. However, new research suggests that reductions in smoking rates had less than a 1% effect on increased rates of obesity nationwide. Further, a forthcoming study shows that among weight-concerned smokers trying to quit, nicotine has only a small and temporary effect on weight maintenance.

What does contribute to weight gain? A social network analysis of over 12,000 people between 1971 and 2003 showed that friends and family are key. Specifically,

• Individuals were 57% more likely to become obese if a friend became obese
• 40% more likely if a sibling became obese.
• 37% more likely if a spouse became obese.
• Further, same sex friends and family members had more influence on weight gain than opposite sex friends and family members.

High rates of smoking and obesity are significant health issues facing the Commonwealth. Public policymakers can use research-based information to develop strategies for addressing these issues. Based on recent research, possible approaches might include smoking cessation programs that integrate nutrition and healthful eating curricula, family-based physical activity programs, and ad campaigns that dispel myths about the link between smoking cessation and obesity.

Obesity Linked to Lower Educational Attainment

A researcher at the University of Texas has discovered that obese girls in America are half as likely to attend college as non-obese girls. This finding is particularly troublesome when you live and work in a state with the fifth highest adult obesity rate in the nation (25.6%) and the third highest rate of overweight high school students (14.6%) that ranks 45th in the percent of adults over age 25 with a bachelor's degree or higher (21.3% compared to 27.2% nationwide). Clearly we need to be concerned about the negative health effects of obesity on the educational attainment of our youth.

Obviously, there isn't a simple solution to the problems of obesity or low educational attainment. However, it is becoming increasingly obvious that schools are one venue for addressing these two critical issues facing the Commonwealth - perhaps even in an integrated fashion. If you saw the movie Akeelah and the Bee, you'll recall her jump rope spelling practice. Innovation such as integrated curriculum is key when working to tackle important issues.

Some of Kentucky's state senators and representatives agree. In the most recent general session, these lawmakers proposed legislation that would bring back physical education into the school day for grades pre-K through 8, including making physical activity a component of the three R's, a la' Akeelah. While this bill didn't reach the governor's desk in 2007, I will contact the author of the Senate legislation to see if she plans to refile.