The Impact of a School-Based Weight Management Program Involving Parents via mHealth for Overweight and Obese Children and Adolescents with Intellectual Disability: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Regina Lai-Tong Lee, Cynthia Leung, Hong Chen, Lobo H. T. Louie, Michael Brown, Jyu-Lin Chen, Gordon Cheung and Paul H. Lee
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Regina Lai-Tong Lee: World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Community Health Services, School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Cynthia Leung: Department of Applied & Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Hong Chen: Infection Control Branch, Centre for Health Protection, Hong Kong, China
Lobo H. T. Louie: Department of Physical Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
Michael Brown: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen’s University, Belfast B79 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK
Jyu-Lin Chen: Faculty of Nursing, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
Gordon Cheung: Hong Kong Dietitians Association, Hong Kong, China
Paul H. Lee: School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: There is a scarcity of resources and studies that utilize targeted weight management interventions to engage parents via mHealth tools targeting obese children and adolescents with mild intellectual disabilities (MIDs) extended from school to a home setting. To test the feasibility and acceptability of a school-based weight program (SBWMP) involving parents via mHealth tools designed to reduce weight, enhance knowledge and adopt healthy lifestyles, and thereby achieve better psychosocial well-being among children and adolescents with MIDs. Four special schools were randomly assigned as intervention or control schools. Students from the intervention group (n = 63) were compared to those in the control group (n = 52), which comprised those with usual school planned activities and no parental involvement. Demographics were considered as covariates in a general linear model, an ordinal regression model and a binary logistic regression model analyzing the relationships between the SBWMP and the outcome variables at baseline (T0) and six months later (T1). Body weight, body mass index, and triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness were lower in the intervention group compared to the control group, although the differences were not statistically significant. There was a positive and direct impact of the SBWMP on students’ health knowledge and psychological impacts in the intervention group. The SBWMP extended to the home involving parents via mHealth tools is a feasible and acceptable program for this group with MIDs and their parents.

Keywords: overweight and obese schoolchildren with mild intellectual disabilities; school-based weight management program; engaging parents via mHealth tools; home setting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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