PROSPER Sites Chosen for Obesity Prevention Pilot

This program was first developed and tested in Australia, where a preliminary study yielded positive effects on parenting and on children’s eating, activity choices, and BMI. Currently, it is one of the few childhood obesity prevention programs in the world with any evidence of effectiveness.  The program utilizes a group format to teach parents positive and effective ways to promote healthy eating habits, reduce children’s TV watching and other sedentary behavior, and promote active lifestyles. The new study will adapt the program for Pennsylvania families and will test its effectiveness in two PROSPER communities, Jim Thorpe and Wyoming Valley West. The program will begin in January of 2013, and will include parents of 48 children in grades 1-4 in each community. Half of the families will receive the program right away, while the other half will serve as a comparison group and will receive the program the following year. PROSPER teams will be responsible for recruiting families for the program, overseeing the implementation to assure high quality program delivery, and assisting with data collection. If the results from this pilot indicate that the program is appealing and effective for Pennsylvania families, it may pave the way for a large scale, efficacy trial of Triple P in Pennsylvania. For more information about this project, contact Dr. Janet Welsh of the Prevention Research Center at jaw900@psu.edu.