Targeting Pediatric Obesity via a Healthy Lifestyle Summer Camp Intervention: How Necessary Is a Parenting Component?

Pediatric obesity represents a significant public health concern, especially for Hispanic school-aged children. This study examined via a randomized trial the efficacy of a family-based intervention [Healthy Lifestyle Summer Camp and Parenting program (HLSC+HLPP)] compared with a child-based camp intervention [Healthy Lifestyle Summer Camp (HLSC)] on improving child and parent health outcomes. Participants included 24 children ( = 11 HLSC+HLPP;  = 13 HLSC) with a mean age of 6.17 years (range 4-9 years) who were mostly Hispanic (87.5%) and were classified as overweight or obese, and their primary caregiver. Various anthropometric, physical activity, nutrition, and parenting outcomes were collected pre-/post-intervention. Results indicated that both interventions were feasible and acceptable. There were no statistically significant differences between groups; however, both groups demonstrated a decrease in child BMI -score (HLSC+HLPP:  = -0.31; HLSC:  = -0.31) and increase in child fitness (HLSC+HLPP:  = 1.70; HLSC:  = 1.77), nutritional health classification (HLSC+HLPP:  = 1.54; HLSC:  = 0.82), nutrition expressive knowledge (HLSC+HLPP:  = 1.03; HLSC:  = 1.06), and parental monitoring (HLSC+HLPP:  = 0.51; HLSC:  = 0.49) after the intervention. These findings highlight the feasibility, acceptability, and improvement of child health outcomes after both interventions. Future research should examine group differences during a follow-up period as well as employ a larger sample.