Feasibility of targeting Hispanic fathers and children in an obesity intervention: "Papas Saludables Ninos Saludables"

Authors: O'CONNOR, TERESIA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); BELTRAN, ALICIA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); MUSAAD, SALMA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); PEREZ, ORIANA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); FLORES, ADRIANA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); GALDAMEZ-CALDERON, EDGAR - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); ISBELL, TASIA - University Of Texas Health Science Center; ARREDONDO, ELVA - San Diego State University; PARRA CARDONA, RUBEN - University Of Texas At Austin; CABRERA, NATASHA - University Of Maryland; MARTON, STEPHANIE - Baylor College Of Medicine; BARANOWSKI, TOM - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); MORGAN, PHILIP - University Of Newcastle

Submitted to: Childhood Obesity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/6/2020
Publication Date: 5/29/2020
Citation: O'Connor, T.M., Beltran, A., Musaad, S., Perez, O., Flores, A., Galdamez-Calderon, E., Isbell, T., Arredondo, E.M., Parra Cardona, R., Cabrera, N., Marton, S.A., Baranowski, T., Morgan, P.J. 2020. Feasibility of targeting Hispanic fathers and children in an obesity intervention: "Papas Saludables Ninos Saludables". Childhood Obesity. https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2020.0006.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2020.0006

Interpretive Summary: Hispanic children and adults experience significant health disparities for obesity and associated medical conditions. To date, fathers have been minimally targeted or engaged in efforts to prevent children from developing obesity, despite fathers having important influences on children's physical activity and eating behaviors. One program, Healthy Dads Healthy Kids, has successfully engaged Australian fathers in a weight management program for the men and obesity prevention for their children. This manuscript describes a feasibility study for delivering and evaluating a culturally adapted version of Healthy Dads Healthy Kids, called "Papas Saludables Ninos Saludables" for Hispanic families at one local pediatric clinic. Five feasibility criteria were agreed upon before the study started, including: (1) recruiting 40 Hispanic fathers and their families in 4 months, or less; (2) retaining 80% of participants for pre- and post-assessments; (3) maintaining at least 70% attendance to the 10 sessions; (4) obtaining 80% "excellent" or "good" satisfaction from participants; and (5) collecting anthropometric and behavioral data on at least 75% of participants at baseline and follow-up. A detailed process of evaluation of the program was conducted for both groups of families to assess the feasibility criteria. Thirty-six (90% of goal) Hispanic families were enrolled in the study from May-August 2018. Nineteen families started the program right after baseline assessments were conducted and 17 were wait-listed and started the program after follow-up data were collected. 75% (94% of goal) of families attended baseline and post-assessment data collections. Mean attendance for both groups to the program was 72% for those that started the program (>100% of goal). 100% of fathers and mothers rated the program good or excellent (>100% of goal). Most anthropometric and baseline data were collected on 100% of the families at baseline and 72% at follow up (96% of goal). All the feasibility criteria were within 90% of the pre-specified goals. Given this was the first study to specifically target Hispanic fathers for weight management and obesity prevention these findings are encouraging and support that "Papas Saludables Ninos Saludables" should be further evaluated in a larger efficacy trial.

Technical Abstract: Hispanic children and men carry a high burden for obesity and associated medical conditions. Healthy Dads Healthy Kids was the first obesity prevention intervention targeting fathers and demonstrated weight loss among fathers and behavior change among fathers and children in Australia. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of a culturally adapted version of the program for Hispanic families, Papas Saludables Ninos Saludables. A randomized waitlist controlled trial with a process evaluation was conducted to assess the feasibility of Papas Saludables Ninos Saludables (NCT03532048). Fathers, their partner (mother), and one to three children were enrolled. A priori feasibility criteria were: (1) recruit 40 Hispanic fathers and their families in <=4 months; (2) retain 80% of participants for pre- and postassessments; (3) maintain >=70% attendance to the 10 sessions; (4) obtain 80% "excellent" or "good" satisfaction from participants; and (5) collect anthropometric and behavioral data on >=75% of participants at baseline and follow-up. The study enrolled 90% (n=36) of the goal from one local pediatric clinic between May and August 2018; retained 75% of participants for postassessment; maintained 72% attendance among those who started the program; and achieved 100% "excellent/good" satisfaction ratings among the participating fathers and mothers. One hundred percent of participants had most anthropometric and behavioral data at baseline and 72% at follow-up. With oversampling and improvements in the recruitment strategies, Papas Saludables Ninos Saludables is feasible for a randomized controlled clinical trial to address whether a father-targeted lifestyle program is efficacious among low-income Hispanic men and their children.