Nutrition and Exercise Start Today (NEST): Obesity prevention for rural Hispanic families

A well documented argument has been established indicating that overweight children and childhood obesity have reached epidemic proportions and are major public health problems nationally and globally. It is further argued that currently about 25 million U.S. children and adolescents are overweight or obese, with children from families of low socio-economic status experiencing a disproportionate burden. The purpose of the study is to develop, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive family-based intervention targeting Hispanic children (age 5-14) and their parent(s) in a rural pediatric clinic. This goal for the project is to reduce childhood overweight and obesity. The objectives for the study are the following: 1) Recruit 200 overweight and obese Hispanic children and their parents from a rural children's clinic, the New Braunfels Pediatric Associates in New Braunfels, Texas. 2) Develop and implement a family-based educational intervention focused on healthy lifestyles. 3) Assess the impact of the educational intervention on children's weight maintenance, sedentary behavior, consumption of sweetened beverages, and fasting insulin and serum glucose levels. This is an educational intervention design. The study is targeting a rural community in New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas, with a population of approximately 51,000 individuals, of which 33% are Hispanic.