Effectiveness of a paediatric weight management intervention for rural youth (iAmHealthy): Primary outcomes of a cluster randomised control trial

Background: Youth in rural areas are disproportionally affected by obesity. Given the unique barriers rural populations face, tailoring and increasing access to obesity interventions is necessary.

Objective: This paper evaluates the effectiveness of iAmHealthy, a family-based paediatric obesity intervention delivered to rural children, compared to a Newsletter Control.

Methods: Participating schools (n = 18) were randomly assigned to iAmHealthy or Newsletter Control. iAmHealthy consists of individual health coaching and group sessions delivered via televideo to a participant's home. The child and parent's body mass index (BMI), child physical activity and child dietary intake were assessed at baseline, post-treatment (8 months) and follow-up (20 months). Multilevel modeling estimated the effect of treatment at both time points.

Results: Parent and child dyads were recruited (n = 148) and randomised to iAmHealthy (n = 64) or the Control group (n = 84). The Control group had significant increases in child BMIz from baseline to follow-up. iAmHealthy youth had no significant changes in BMIz from baseline to post or follow-up. Child dietary intake, physical activity and parent BMI results are also discussed.

Conclusions: This trial extends previous paediatric obesity work by simultaneously increasing convenience and dose of treatment. Results suggest iAmHealthy resulted in a change in BMIz trajectories and long-term health behaviour for youth.