Preventing Childhood Obesity Through a Mindfulness-Based Parent Stress Intervention: A Randomized Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility of engaging stressed, low-income parents with obesity in a novel mindfulness-based parent stress intervention aimed at decreasing the risk of early childhood obesity. STUDY DESIGN: An 8-week mindfulness-based parent stress group intervention (parenting mindfully for health) plus nutrition and physical activity counseling (PMH+N) was developed for parents with obesity aimed at preventing obesity in their at-risk 2- to 5-year-old children. PMH+N was compared with a control group intervention (C+N), and improvement in parenting was assessed before and after the intervention using the laboratory-based toy wait task (TWT). In addition, nutrition, physical activity, and stress were assessed using a multimethod approach. RESULTS: After establishing feasibility in 20 parent-child dyads (phase 1), 42 dyads were randomized to PMH+N vs C+N (phase 2). Compared with the C+N group, the PMH+N group demonstrated significantly better group attendance (P < .015), greater improvement in parental involvement (P < .05), and decreased parental emotional eating rating (P < .011). Furthermore, C+N, but not PMH+N, was associated with significant increases in child body mass index percentile during treatment (P < .03) when accounting for the TWT before and after changes in parenting scores. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that a mindfulness-based parent stress intervention to decrease childhood obesity risk is feasible, requires further testing of therapeutic mechanisms in larger samples, and may be a potential way to attenuate the risk of childhood obesity. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.govNCT01974102.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Adolescents with Functional Somatic Syndromes: A Pilot Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program for adolescents with widespread chronic pain and other functional somatic symptoms and to make preliminary assessments of its clinical utility. STUDY DESIGN: Three cohorts of subjects completed an 8-week MBSR program. Child- and parent-completed measures were collected at baseline and 8 and 12 weeks later. Measures included the Functional Disability Inventory (FDI), the Fibromyalgia/Symptom Impact Questionnaire-Revised (FIQR/SIQR), the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale (MASC2), and the Perceived Stress Scale. Subjects and parents were interviewed following the program to assess feasibility. RESULTS: Fifteen of 18 subjects (83%) completed the 8-week program. No adverse events occurred. Compared with baseline scores, significant changes were found in mean scores on the FDI (33% improvement, P = .026), FIQR/SIQR (26% improvement, P = .03), and MASC2 (child: 12% improvement, P = .02; parent report: 17% improvement, P = .03) at 8 weeks. MASC2 scores (child and parent) and Perceived Stress Scale scores were significantly improved at 12 weeks. More time spent doing home practice was associated with better outcomes in the FDI and FIQR/SIQR (44% and 26% improvement, respectively). Qualitative interviews indicated that subjects and parents reported social support as a benefit of the MBSR class, as well as a positive impact of MBSR on activities of daily living, and on pain and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: MBSR is a feasible and acceptable intervention in adolescents with functional somatic syndromes and has preliminary evidence for improving functional disability, symptom impact, and anxiety, with consistency between parent and child measures. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02190474.