Development of a home feeding intervention for resource‐limited parents of 3–5 year old children

Purpose To describe the development and pilot testing of a dualmedia nutrition intervention for parents of 3–5 year old children enrolled in a federal preschool program. Methods A multidisciplinary team developed a self‐guided workbook with complementary DVD clips featuring parents discussing family food experiences. In a pilot test, 42 parents and their preschool children were randomly assigned to an intervention (n=23) or control group (n=19) for 8 weeks, with a 6‐week post‐visit. Participants completed 2 evaluations for program acceptability and success. Results Five topics comprised the intervention: 1) home food environment, 2) food modeling, 3) praise, 4) mealtime fun, and 5) difficult mealtime behaviors. Sixteen parents in the intervention (70%) and 19 in the control group (100%) completed the pilot. Intervention parents rated the program favorably, with a majority agreeing or strongly agreeing that the program was beneficial (94%), suggested good ways to handle problems (81%), and was effective in changing mealtimes (94%). Only 56% parents agreed or strongly agreed that they as parents needed such a program. Conclusions This parent feeding intervention was well received, but needs testing in a larger, wider audience. Targeting parents with higher perceived need might enhance program effectiveness. Financial support: NIH NICHHD Grant Number 1R21HD064876‐ 01A1