ONE PATH: Optimizing Nutrition Education for Parents and Teachers for Healthy Growth

National Institute of Health
PI: Dr. Jennifer Savage Williams, CCOR

The ONE PATH study will utilize an innovative strategy, Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST), to test intervention components targeting 3 unique audiences, 1) early childhood education (ECE) providers, 2) preschool children, and 3) parents, to address childhood obesity in rural, underserved areas. ECE providers will receive an online responsive feeding training program. Preschool children will receive an experiential play-based curriculum delivered in the classroom focused on recognition of hunger and fullness cues and using attention control and mindfulness strategies to regulate food intake. Parents will receive responsive feeding guidance from Extension educators through home visitation. The goal of the study is to identify which intervention components improve caregiver (ECE providers and parents) feeding practices and children’s appetite regulation (primary outcomes), and children's BMI z-scores (secondary outcome) over the course of 1 academic year (September through May). Results from this study will be used to build an efficient, optimized obesity prevention intervention for a vulnerable population at a critical developmental period to be evaluated in a future randomized controlled trial.