摘要：Objectives. This field study tested the feasibility and benefits of a program to promote 6 targeted parental behaviors to prevent obesity in children served by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Methods. Two WIC sites participated in a nonrandomized, controlled 1-year prospective study to assess parents’ self-reported behavior changes. Results. Statistical analyses of preintervention and postintervention assessments of parental behavior demonstrated significant changes in 2 behaviors: frequency of offering the child water and frequency of engaging in active play with the child. In both cases, the intervention proved effective in increasing the desired behavior. Conclusions. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of changing parental behaviors through multidimensional education in a WIC clinic setting. The prevalence of children and adolescents with a body mass index (BMI) greater than the 95th percentile has doubled in the past 2 decades 1 ; African American and Hispanic children have higher rates of overweight and risk for overweight than White children. 2 In 2001, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that 26% of the nation’s 3.8 million preschool children served by Special Supplemental Nutrition for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) programs in state health departments were overweight. 3 Because many serious health problems in both adults and children are associated with obesity, effective prevention strategies are a priority for public health. 4– 10 Given the paucity of high-quality data to confirm the effectiveness of overweight prevention programs for children, effective interventions to prevent overweight in preschool children must be identified. 11 Parents can be influential in helping to prevent overweight in their children and may benefit from specific education supporting their efforts. 5, 12, 13 Between 5% and 25% of weight variance has been attributed to genetic influences 14, 15 ; however, the increasing prevalence of obesity during the past 20 years appears to owe mostly to environmental factors such as home milieu and parental influence. The contribution of these factors can be significant in encouraging healthy eating behaviors and physical activity, both of which may be protective against child overweight. 16– 19 WIC agencies serve high percentages of low-income children in the United States and are organizationally positioned to teach obesity prevention to parents. 20 In 1999, the USDA competitively funded 5 WIC programs in state health departments to work collaboratively to determine the feasibility of developing and implementing model childhood obesity prevention programs. The goal of each state’s model program was to target low-income mothers whose children were between 2 and 4 years of age and to develop a program designed to prevent overweight in these children.
