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Improving child weight management uptake through enhanced National Child Measurement Programme parental feedback letters: A randomised controlled trial.

PHE Behavioural Insights Team (PHE BI), Research, Translation & Innovation Division, 6th Floor, Wellington House, 133-155 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UG, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Electronic address: anna.sallis@phe.gov.uk. PHE Behavioural Insights Team (PHE BI), Research, Translation & Innovation Division, 6th Floor, Wellington House, 133-155 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UG, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Washington Singer Laboratories, Perry Road, Exeter EX4 4QG, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. PHE Behavioural Insights Team (PHE BI), Research, Translation & Innovation Division, 6th Floor, Wellington House, 133-155 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UG, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; HM Courts and Tribunals Services, 6.02, 102 Petty France, London SW1H 9AJ, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Leicestershire County Council, County Hall, Glenfield, Leicestershire LE3 8TB, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. PHE Behavioural Insights Team (PHE BI), Research, Translation & Innovation Division, 6th Floor, Wellington House, 133-155 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UG, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Human Nutrition Research Centre and Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, M1.51 William Leech Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne NE2 4HH, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. School of Health and Social Care, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BA, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Health Intelligence Division, Public Health England, Wellington House, 133-155 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UG, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Scarman Road, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Preventive medicine. 2019;:128-135
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Abstract

This single-blind, pragmatic, cluster randomised controlled trial aims to investigate uptake of children's weight management services in response to enhanced National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) letters providing weight status feedback to parents in three English counties in 2015. Parents of 2642 overweight or very overweight (obese) children aged 10-11 years received an intervention or control letter informing them of their child's weight status. Intervention letters included (i) a visual tool to help weight status recognition, (ii) a social norms statement, and for very overweight children, (iii) a prepopulated booking form for weight management services. The primary outcome was weight management service enrolment. Additional outcome measures included attendance at and contact made with weight management services, and a number of self-report variables. A small effect was observed, with intervention parents being significantly more likely to enrol their children in weight management services (4.33% of Intervention group) than control parents (2.19% of Control group) in both unadjusted (OR = 2.08, p = .008) and adjusted analyses (AOR = 2.48, p = .001). A similar picture emerged for contact with services (4.80% Intervention vs. 2.41% Control; OR = 2.10, p = .003; AOR = 2.46, p < .001) and attendance at services, although group differences in the latter measure were not significant after corrections for multiple comparisons (1.89% Intervention vs. 1.02% Control; AOR = 2.11, p = .047). No effects were found on self-report variables. Theoretically informed weight status feedback letters appear to be an effective strategy to improve enrolment in paediatric weight management services.

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MeSH terms : Health Promotion ; Parents