Responsive Parenting Intervention Curbs Childhood Obesity Risk: Daily Dose

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On March 17, 2025, we reported on a study published in JAMA Pediatrics that examined the effect of an intervention designed for the primary prevention of obesity and delivered through age 2 years on weight outcomes through age 9 years.

The study

Researchers conducted a longitudinal observation of a single-center randomized study comparing a responsive parenting intervention vs a home safety intervention (control) among 232 primiparous mother-child dyads who completed the assessment at age 3 years with follow-up to age 9 years.

The responsive parenting curriculum taught mothers how to identify and respond to their child's emotional and physical needs in areas such as feeding, sleep, play, and emotional regulation during the first 2 years of life with the goal of reducing rapid infant weight gain. The control was a home safety intervention that was dose matched for time and intensity. Intervention was delivered by mailed instructions at 2 weeks; nurse home visits at 3 to 4, 16, 28, and 40 weeks; research center visits at 1 and 2 years; and telephone contacts at 18 and 30 months. There was no intervention performed during observational follow-up.

The findings

Children in the responsive parenting group had a lower mean BMI than those in the control group from ages 3 to 9 years (16.64 vs 17.07; P = .049). Investigators also observed that sex moderated this effect. Female participants in the responsive parenting group had a lower mean BMI than female participants in the control group (16.32 vs 17.32; P = .007), with no group differences among male participants.

Cross-sectional analyses revealed no differences in BMI z scores or prevalence of overweight or obesity at ages 5, 6, and 9 years between the responsive parenting group and the control group with no significant differences in BMI z scores or prevalence of overweight or obesity at ages 5, 6, and 9 years between the responsive parenting group and the control group.

Authors' comments

"Further research is needed on how to incorporate a life-course approach to obesity prevention, which may help to sustain the benefits that responsive parenting interventions have demonstrated in early life. Additional research on improving responsiveness for parents of boys may also be warranted."

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