‘Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids’ randomized controlled trial: efficacy of a healthy lifestyle program for overweight fathers and their children

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 436 - 447
• Main Authors: Morgan, P.J, Lubans, D.R, Callister, R, Okely, A.D, Burrows, T.L, Fletcher, R, Collins, C.E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group 01.03.2011; Nature Publishing Group UK
• Subjects: 692/699/2743/393; 692/700/459/284; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Blood pressure; Body Mass Index; boys; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; confidence interval; Confidence Intervals; Development and progression; Diet; Education; Epidemiology; Fathers; Fathers - psychology; Fathers - statistics & numerical data; Feasibility Studies; Female; food intake; General aspects; Genetic aspects; Health aspects; Health Behavior; Health Promotion - methods; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Heart rate; Humans; Internal Medicine; Life style; lifestyle; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; men; Metabolic Diseases; Obesity; Obesity in children; original-article; overweight; Overweight - epidemiology; Overweight - psychology; Parents & parenting; physical activity; Physiological aspects; Program Evaluation; Public Health; randomized clinical trials; Risk factors; systolic blood pressure; Waist Circumference; Weight Loss; Australia; New South Wales Australia; weight loss; fathers; intervention; children; men; Human; Obesity; Program; Nutrition; Treatment efficiency; Body weight; Nutrition disorder; Weight loss; Metabolic diseases; Male; Corporal biometry; Overweight; Randomization; Randomised controlled trial; Adult; Clinical trial; Father; Child; Nutritional status; Life style
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2010.151

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of the ‘Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids’ (HDHK) program, which was designed to help overweight fathers lose weight and be a role model of positive health behaviors for their children. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Participants: A total of 53 overweight/obese men (mean (s.d.) age=40.6 (7.1) years; body mass index (BMI)=33.2 (3.9)) and their primary school-aged children (n=71, 54% boys; mean (s.d.) age=8.2 (2.0) years) were randomly assigned (family unit) to either (i) the HDHK program (n=27 fathers, n=39 children) or (ii) a wait-list control group (n=26 fathers, n=32 children). Intervention: Fathers in the 3-month program attended eight face-to-face education sessions. Children attended three of these sessions. Outcomes: The primary outcome was fathers’ weight. Fathers and their children were assessed at baseline, and at 3- and 6-month follow-up, for weight, waist circumference, BMI, blood pressure, resting heart rate (RHR), objectively measured physical activity and self-reported dietary intake. Results: Intention-to-treat analysis revealed significant between-group differences at 6 months for weight loss (P<0.001), with HDHK fathers losing more weight (−7.6kg; 95% confidence interval (CI) −9.2, −6.0; d=0.54) than control group fathers (0.0kg; 95% CI −1.4, 1.6). Significant treatment effects (P<0.05) were also found for waist circumference (d=0.62), BMI (d=0.53), systolic blood pressure (d=0.92), RHR (d=0.66) and physical activity (d=0.91), but not for dietary intake. In children, significant treatment effects (P<0.05) were found for physical activity (d=0.74), RHR (d=0.51) and dietary intake (d=0.84). Conclusion: The HDHK program resulted in significant weight loss and improved health-related outcomes in fathers and improved eating and physical activity among children. Targeting fathers is a novel and efficacious approach to improving health behavior in their children.