Effects of a Family-Focused and Community Based Lifestyle Intervention on Parent-Reported Children's Dietary Intake

Some studies have investigated physical activity and nutrition interventions for Hispanic children, but few studies have included a culturally tailored, family-based approach. Many studies have also focused on weight/body mass index (BMI) as the primary outcome. This study is a secondary analysis of Athletes for Life, a 12-week, culturally tailored, community and family focused intervention that aimed to promote healthy eating and physical activity behaviors in 6–11-year-old children and their families. A total of 140 parent-child dyads were randomized to the AFL intervention or wait list control group. Data collection was performed at baseline prior to randomization, at the end of the 12-weeks intervention, and 24 weeks after baseline. The 12-week intervention included 24 biweekly, 90-minute sessions that included nutrition and physical activity content for both parents and children. Information about parents and their children was collected from parents via survey to gather sociodemographic and children’s diet data. Children’s intake of fruits, vegetables, sugar-sweetened foods/beverages, and non-sugar cereal was collected using a 49-item food frequency questionnaire and converted into servings per day. Quade’s analysis of covariance was performed to assess intervention effects on children’s dietary outcomes by group allocation (intervention versus control), using baseline data as the covariate. Results showed that at T2, parents reported significantly higher servings of fruit per day for their children (2.41±1.12) compared to wait-list control participants (1.67±0.75, p=0.02, F=10.41). Parents reported higher consumption of high-sugar cereals for their children at T2 (0.84±0.34) compared to the wait-list control group (0.67±0.44, p=0.004, F=8.43). No other significant intervention effects were present among the remaining food categories. These findings suggest that AFL was efficacious in seeing a small but significant change in parent reported fruit intake for their children. Future nutrition and physical activity interventions that continue to incorporate a family, community-based approach may be beneficial in the long-term to sustain an overall improvement in FV intake and for Hispanic children.