TAKE ACTION: A Multidisciplinary Lifestyle Intervention for Families in a Rural Community

摘要

Background: Rural residents are at greater risk for obesity than their urban peers, as they tend to have fewer resources and less access to medical services and health education. To address these barriers, we conducted TAKE ACTION, a small-scale pilot intervention to evaluate the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary, healthy lifestyle program for overweight youth and parents living in a rural community.Methods: 14 youth and 12 parents participated in the program. Eligible youth were between 6 and 17 years old with a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and a co-participating parent. Participants (n=26) received 16 sessions of graduated-intensity aerobic activity with supplemental nutritional education and behavior modification training. The program utilized community facilities and was supported by local organizations and businesses. Anthropomorphic and cardiovascular fitness assessments occurred pre- and post-intervention.Results: BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio for youth participants remained stable from pre- to post-treatment. Youth demonstrated significant improvements in their cardiovascular response during a graded treadmill exercise test (p < .001) and heart rate recovery from exercise at 1 min (p = .038), and 3-min (p = .02). Parent participants demonstrated significant improvements in their cardiovascular responses (p = .001), BMI (p = .002), weight (p = .013), waist circumference (p = .003) and waist-to-hip ratio (p = .018) after the 8 week intervention.Conclusions: This pilot program demonstrated that an inter-professional, healthy lifestyle program in a community setting was able to improve and/or maintain anthropomorphic and cardiovascular fitness health in rural families.