Bikes for Life: Measuring the effects of a bicycle distribution program on 6 to 12-year-old children's BMI and health behaviors.

Treating pediatric obesity is challenging. The objective was to evaluate effect of receiving a bicycle on (a) physical activity, (b) sedentary activity, (c) Body Mass Index (BMI), and (d) eating habits. A stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial of 6- to 12-year-old patients with overweight/obesity was conducted April 2012-2018. Participants were randomized to wait 0, 2, 4, or 6 months for a bicycle. Outcomes on activity, BMI and eating were collected at 3, 6, 9- and 12-months after children received a bicycle. A total of 525 participants with 387 (74%) completed 3-month follow-up questionnaire, and 346 (66%) completed 12-month follow-up visit. Participants were mostly Latino/a (71%) and low income (58%), and 31% had never ridden a bicycle. Median baseline BMI was 98th percentile. At 3 months, 62% reported bicycle use last week, on average 3.6 days. Time spent on sedentary activities decreased by 48 min/day (p = 0.04), and time spent playing sports increased by 1.7 h/week (p < 0.01). No reduction in BMI was seen. Consumption of sugary drinks decreased (by 0.59 servings/week, p < 0.01), and consumption of vegetables increased (0.71 servings/week, p = 0.04). At 12 months, sedentary time, sugary drink and vegetable consumption remained significantly more favorable than at enrollment (p < 0.01, p < 0.01, p = 0.04 respectively), but not significantly different (p = 0.47 for sedentary, p = 0.73 for sugary drink) and significantly less favorable (p < 0.01 for vegetables) than at the time of intervention. Participants reported riding bicycle, improved activity and dietary habits, though reversion towards baseline behavior was seen by one year and no change in BMI from enrollment.

The Familias Saludables partnership: Engaging the Latino community to address early childhood obesity.

Darcy A Thompson is an Associate Professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Her main research seeks to address early childhood obesity in low-income children. She works in the Lifestyle Medicine clinic at Children's Hospital Colorado, a clinic focused on caring for children with obesity and related comorbidities. She is also an Associate Medical Director for the Research Institute at Children's Hospital Colorado. Her training includes a Master of Public Health degree, a medical degree (Yale University) and the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Fellowship (University of Washington). Deborah (Deb) A Federspiel has been leading child health advocacy and community health improvement initiatives in support of Children's Hospital Colorado's mission for the past 15 years. Her professional background includes experience developing and managing teams, programs and operations, as well as building partnerships and coalitions to drive key strategic initiatives and advance positive change on behalf of children and families. An active member of a number of community advisory committees and nonprofit boards, she has worked in the Colorado nonprofit sector since 1999. She has a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Dayton.

Use of the Delphi Technique to Obtain Community Input on Leading Contributors to Early Childhood Obesity in Latino Communities.

INTRODUCTION: In the United States, Latino children are disproportionately affected by childhood obesity and related comorbidities. Stakeholder engagement has the potential to heighten the efficacy of interventions, thereby reducing the disparate prevalence of obesity among Latino children. The objective of this study was to identify stakeholders' opinions on factors influencing early childhood obesity in Latino children aged 0 to 5 years. METHOD: This study used the Delphi technique to gather and prioritize stakeholders' opinions about the factors and barriers considered most influential in early (age 0-5 years) childhood obesity intervention or prevention within the Latino community. Three sequential phases were used. Participants included Latina women as well as staff from community organizations serving Denver metropolitan's Latino population. RESULTS: Study results revealed that stakeholders value the role of the child's primary care provider in the identification of overweight children and desire more educational support to reduce intake of nonnutritious foods. Participants further determined that obesity-related knowledge gaps and affordability of healthy foods and activities were the largest barriers to helping Latino children maintain healthy weights. CONCLUSION: Use of this stakeholder-informed data could assist in the development of future culturally tailored interventions aimed at reducing the rates of early childhood obesity in the Latino population.