Weighing Physical Activity: The Impact of a Family-Based Group Lifestyle Intervention for Pediatric Obesity on Participants’ Physical Activity

Objectives To examine differences in self-reported physical activity (PA) between participants enrolled in the treatment versus active control condition of a pediatric obesity intervention, and to test associations between parent and child PA. Methods Participants (N ¼ 93) included children aged 7–17 years and their parent. Analyses tested whether participants in the treatment condition reported greater PA at postintervention and 12-month follow-up compared with the control condition. Further, researchers examined change in PA across time and whether change in parent PA was associated with change in child PA. Results Children in the treatment condition reported greater PA at 12-month follow-up. Parents in the treatment group reported a significant increase in PA between baseline and postintervention. Change in parent PA was associated with changes in child PA across multiple periods. Conclusions Family-based obesity interventions may promote long-term change in self-reported PA among youths, and change in parent PA may be a contributing factor.