Simply Dinner: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Home Meal Delivery.

Objective: To determine the effect of a bundled intervention (home meal delivery and provision of cooking/serving resources) on preschoolers' body mass index z-score (BMIz), dietary quality, and family meal frequency.

Methods: Participants (299 families; mean child age 4.4 years, 47% male, 55% White, 18% Black, 27% Hispanic or other race and ethnicity, and 25% were overweight or obese) were randomized to a control group or to provision of cooking/serving resources plus home meal delivery for 12 weeks (meals provided by Meals on Wheels [MOW cohort, n = 83] or a commercial service [COM cohort, n = 216]).

Characteristics of eating behavior profiles among preschoolers with low-income backgrounds: a person-centered analysis.

Background: Individual differences in eating behaviors among young children are well-established, but the extent to which behaviors aggregate within individuals to form distinct eating behavior profiles remains unknown. Our objectives were to identify eating behavior profiles among preschool-aged children and evaluate associations with temperament and weight.

Methods: A secondary, cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 2 cohort studies was conducted involving 1004 children aged 3-4 years and their parents with low-income backgrounds.

Supporting family meal frequency: Screening Phase results from the Simply Dinner Study.

We aimed to test main, additive, interactive effects, and feasibility of all possible combinations of six intervention components implemented for 8 weeks (Cooking/Serving Resources; Meal Delivery; Ingredient Delivery; Community Kitchen; Nutrition Education; Cooking Demonstrations). Primary outcomes were family meal frequency and preschoolers' dietary quality; secondary outcomes included family meal preparation type, meal preparation barriers, family functioning, and kitchen inventory adequacy. All possible intervention combinations were tested using a randomized factorial trial design in the first phase of a Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST).

Temperament, socioeconomic adversity, and perinatal risk as related to preschoolers' BMI.

Objective: Disparities in childhood obesity necessitate identification of risk-protective and risk- augmenting factors for young children experiencing socioeconomic adversity born with perinatal risk. Temperamental reactivity is a biological marker of susceptibility to environmental characteristics. This study tested whether temperamental reactivity moderated the relation between socioeconomic risk and children's body mass index (BMI).

Maternal Mindfulness Is Associated With Lower Child Body Mass Index Z Score.

Background: Parental mindfulness may be a novel intervention target for child obesity prevention.

Objective: To examine associations between maternal mindfulness and child body mass index z-score (BMIz).

Methods: In a secondary data analysis of preintervention data from a randomized controlled trial, we assessed survey and anthropometric data from English-speaking mother/child dyads enrolled in Head Start in south central Michigan (n = 105).

Cross-lagged associations between behaviour problems and obesity in head start preschoolers.

Background: Behaviour problems and obesity are related but research findings have been inconclusive regarding the direction of effects.

Objectives: This study examined the cross-lagged associations between behaviour problems, body mass index (BMI) and obesity in preschoolers, and whether sex modified these associations.

Methods: Repeated measures of teacher-reported externalizing (EXT) and internalizing behaviour problems (clinically significant T scores were >90th percentile), BMI z-scores (BMI-Z) and obesity status (BMI ≥95th for age and sex) were assessed in the fall (T1) and spring (T2) of the school year in Head Start preschoolers (N = 423).

Media Exposure in Low-Income Preschool-Aged Children Is Associated with Multiple Measures of Self-Regulatory Behavior.

Objective: Excessive screen media exposure in childhood is associated with parent-reported self-regulation difficulties. No studies have used laboratory-based or teacher-reported measures of child self-regulatory behaviors. This study examines cross-sectional associations between preschooler screen media exposure and multiple measures of self-regulatory behaviors.

Familial psychosocial risk classes and preschooler body mass index: The moderating effect of caregiver feeding style.

Background: Early child weight gain predicts adolescent and adult obesity, underscoring the need to determine early risk factors affecting weight status and how risk factors might be mitigated. Socioeconomic status, food insecurity, caregiver depressive symptomology, single parenthood, and dysfunctional parenting each have been linked to early childhood weight status. However, the associations between these risk factors and children's weight status may be moderated by caregiver feeding styles (CFS).

Characteristics Associated With Parent-Teacher Concordance on Child Behavior Problem Ratings in Low-Income Preschoolers.

Objective: Assessment of pediatric behavior problems often requires rating scales from multiple reporters in different settings (eg, home and school); however, concordance between reporters may be low. Pediatricians must reconcile differences to inform treatment. We sought to examine characteristics predicting parent-teacher concordance on ratings of preschoolers' behavior problems.

Externalizing behavior is prospectively associated with intake of added sugar and sodium among low socioeconomic status preschoolers in a sex-specific manner.

Background: High intake of added sugar and sodium is a public health concern for preschool-aged children living in the US. Externalizing behavior may predict higher consumption of added sugar and/or sodium; however, previous studies have mostly been cross-sectional. The aim was to evaluate whether externalizing behavior is prospectively related to added sugar and intake in a sex-specific manner among preschoolers.

Association of Picky Eating With Weight Status and Dietary Quality Among Low-Income Preschoolers.

Background: Picky eating is common in children. Few studies have examined predictors of picky eating, and the association of picky eating with weight status and dietary quality is inconsistent in the literature. We aimed to identify predictors of picky eating and to test the association of picky eating with child body mass index z-score (BMIz), dietary quality, and micronutrient intake.

Feeding Practices and Infant Growth: Quantifying the Effects of Breastfeeding Termination and Complementary Food Introduction on BMI z-Score Growth Velocity through Growth Curve Models.

Background: Infant feeding practices are a focus of early obesity prevention. We tested whether infant growth velocity increased after breastfeeding termination and complementary food introduction.

Methods: Our secondary analysis included a sample of 547 mother-infant dyads from a longitudinal randomized controlled trial conducted in Michigan and Colorado.

Improving Self-Regulation for Obesity Prevention in Head Start: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: To determine the effect of an intervention to improve emotional and behavioral self-regulation in combination with an obesity-prevention program on the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related behaviors in preschoolers.

Methods: This was a cluster-randomized intervention trial in Head Start (HS) classrooms conducted in each of 4 academic years from 2011 to 2015. Participants (697 children; 49% boys; mean age: 4.

Changes in household food insecurity are related to changes in BMI and diet quality among Michigan Head Start preschoolers in a sex-specific manner.

Children living in households that have recently become food insecure may be particularly vulnerable to adverse weight and dietary changes, but longitudinal studies examining these associations are lacking. Using data from 501 Head Start preschoolers from Michigan (48% male) who were followed during one school year as a part of a randomized obesity prevention trial, we examined changes in children's adiposity indices and dietary quality according to changes in household food insecurity. Household food insecurity change status was categorized as persistently food secure, became food secure, persistently food insecure, or became food insecure.

Tools for teen moms to reduce infant obesity: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: Unhealthy infant feeding practices, such as a combination of formula feeding and early introduction of solids may lead to rapid or excessive weight gain in early infancy. Adolescent mothers' feeding behaviors are most directly related to infant weight gain in the first year of life. Compared to adult mothers, adolescent mothers are less knowledgeable, less responsive, more controlling, and less skilled in infant feeding, which interferes with infants' healthy growth.

Food patterns and mealtime behaviors in low-income mothers and toddlers.

Maternal and/or child-feeding behaviors and food choices may be important contributors to childhood obesity. We aimed to compare food patterns and mealtime behaviors and to determine predictors of frequent intake of nutrient-dense and energy-dense foods of low-income African American (AA; n = 199) and non-Hispanic White (NHW; n = 200) mother-toddlers dyads using a cross-sectional study. Energy-dense foods were consumed frequently by AA than NHW mother-toddler dyads.

Enhancing self-regulation as a strategy for obesity prevention in Head Start preschoolers: the growing healthy study.

Background: Nearly one in five 4-year-old children in the United States are obese, with low-income children almost twice as likely to be obese as their middle/upper-income peers. Few obesity prevention programs for low-income preschoolers and their parents have been rigorously tested, and effects are modest. We are testing a novel obesity prevention program for low-income preschoolers built on the premise that children who are better able to self-regulate in the face of psychosocial stressors may be less likely to eat impulsively in response to stress.

Healthy babies through infant-centered feeding protocol: an intervention targeting early childhood obesity in vulnerable populations.

Background: Poor feeding practices during infancy contribute to obesity risk. As infants transition from human milk and/or formula-based diets to solid foods, these practices interfere with infant feeding self-regulation and healthy growth patterns. Compared with other socioeconomic groups, lower-income mothers are more likely to experience difficulty feeding their infants.

The Healthy Toddlers Trial Protocol: an intervention to reduce risk factors for childhood obesity in economically and educationally disadvantaged populations.

Background: The number of overweight children in America has doubled to an estimated 10 million in the past 20 years. Establishing healthy dietary behaviors must begin early in childhood and include parents. The Healthy Toddlers intervention focuses on promoting healthy eating habits in 1- to 3-year-old children utilizing the Social Cognitive Theory and a learner-centered approach using Adult Learning principles.

Low-income African American and non-Hispanic White mothers' self-efficacy, "picky eater" perception, and toddler fruit and vegetable consumption.

Objectives: To examine whether and how toddlers' vegetable and fruit consumption is associated with maternal vegetable and fruit consumption, mothers' perceptions of toddlers as "picky eaters," maternal efficacy, and sociodemographic characteristics of the family.

Design And Sample: A cross-sectional survey. One hundred and ninety-nine African American and 200 Non-Hispanic White low-income, mother-toddler dyads enrolled in 8 Early Head Start programs in a Midwestern state.

Mealtime television viewing and dietary quality in low-income African American and Caucasian mother-toddler dyads.

To examine maternal demographic characteristics and depressive symptoms as predictors of TV viewing during mealtimes, and to investigate how mealtime TV viewing predicts mothers' and toddlers' food consumption. A prospective, cross-sectional survey design was employed with 199 African American and 200 Caucasian, low-income, mother-toddler dyads enrolled in eight Early Head Start programs in a Midwestern state. Mothers completed the Toddler-Parent Mealtime Behavior Questionnaire to assess toddler mealtime behavior.

Key theoretical frameworks for intervention: understanding and promoting behavior change in parent-infant feeding choices in a low-income population.

The early introduction of solids to infants is a risk factor associated with later health problems including allergies, overweight, and diabetes. The Infant Feeding Series (TIFS), a newly designed curriculum that promotes the appropriate transition to solids through parenting education and behavior change among low-income mothers, used the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Transtheoretical Model of Change to develop TIFS curricular foci and activities. Using a pre-post design, pilot study results indicate that after exposure to the TIFS curriculum, mothers had significantly increased knowledge about appropriate infant feeding, could more accurately identify developmental indicators of infants' readiness for solids, and reported greater feelings of self efficacy about initiating and maintaining healthy feeding practices.