Empowering parents of obese children: development and controlled evaluation of an obesity-specific parenting skills training

ISRCTN	ISRCTN24655766
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN24655766
Protocol serial number	WA 1143 / 4-2
Sponsor	German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) (Germany)
Funder	Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Submission date: 12/10/2007
Registration date: 06/03/2008
Last edited: 16/11/2016

Recruitment status: No longer recruiting
Overall study status: Completed
Condition category: Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Not provided at time of registration

Contact information

Prof Petra Warschburger
Scientific

University of Potsdam
Department of Psychology
Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25
Potsdam OT Golm
14476
Germany

Phone	+49 (0)331 9772874
Email	warschb@uni-potsdam.de

Study information

Primary study design	Interventional
Study design	Prospective randomised controlled study
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Study type	Participant information sheet
Scientific title	Empowering Parents of Obese Children: development and controlled evaluation of an obesity-specific parenting skills training
Study acronym	EPOC
Study objectives	A compact parent training enhancing "obesity-specific" parenting skills combined with written information and a training video contemporaneous with the inpatient training of the children leads to a greater reduction of percentage overweight (BMI-SDS) in the obese children and an improvement of children and parents' psychosocial variables one year after the end of intervention compared to a parent group only receiving written information.
Ethics approval(s)	Ethics Committee of the University of Potsdam, 19/05/2006
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Obesity
Intervention	Parent training course (intervention group) vs written information only (control group) Parent training course: Key activity: Cognitive-behavioral training, focusing on how parents can support their children at home in critical behavioural tasks (increasing physical activity, dietary changes). Materials and techniques: Group discussions, role play, work sheets, introduction of critical situations (video), take-home video and take-home written information. The participants will be taught by health professionals of the participating clinics (psychologists, pedagogues, nutritionists, dieticians, etc.) Duration of the course: 2 days (in most instances weekend-course), 10 sessions, on average 50 minutes per session Topics/contents of the written information provided to the control group: 1. Etiology of obesity 2. "Traffic light" diet 3. Advice on increasing activity (physical exercise and daily motor activity) 4. Dietary changes
Intervention type	Other
Primary outcome measure(s)	BMI-SDS in children, assessed at T1, T2, T4, T5 and T6 (assessed by a physician, an interview and a questionnaire) Timepoints: T1: Start of the child's inpatient stay T2: End of the child's inpatient stay T3 (Applicable only for the intervention group; timepoint when a telephone booster session takes place) : One month after the child's inpatient stay T4: Three months after the child's inpatient stay T5: Six months after the child's inpatient stay T6: Twelve months after the child's inpatient stay
Key secondary outcome measure(s)	1. Psychosocial variables of parents: 1.1. Self-efficacy, assessed at T1, T2, T4, T5 and T6 by questionnaires and an interview 1.2. Psychosocial strain, assessed at T1 and T6 by the Short Form (SF)-12 State of Health Questionnaire 1.3. Familial support, assessed at T1, T4, T5 and T6 by questionnaires and an interview 1.4. Feeding style, assessed at T1, T4, T5 and T6 by the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ), Caregiver's Feeding Styles Questionnaire (CFSQ) and an interview 2. Psychosocial variables of children: 2.1. General quality of life, assessed at T1, T4, T5 and T6 by a children's quality of life questionnaire (KINDL) 2.2. Weight-related quality of life, assessed at T1, T2, T4, T5 and T6 by a weight-related quality of life questionnaire (GW-LQ-KJ) and an interview 2.3. General self-efficacy, assessed at T1, T2, T4, T5 and T6 by questionnaires 2.4. Weight-related self-efficacy, assessed at T1, T4, T5 and T6 by a weight-related self-efficacy questionnaire (GW-SW-KJ) 2.5. Eating behaviour, assessed at T1, T4, T5 and T6 by the Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (FKE-KJ) 2.6. Activity behaviour, assessed at T1, T4, T5 and T6 by the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents questionnaire 2.4. Familial support, assessed at T1, T4, T5 and T6 by a questionnaire 2.5. Psychosocial strain, assessed at T1 and T6 by the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Timepoints: T1: Start of the child's inpatient stay T2: End of the child's inpatient stay T3 (Applicable only for the intervention group; timepoint when a telephone booster session takes place): One month after the child's inpatient stay T4: Three months after the child's inpatient stay T5: Six months after the child's inpatient stay T6: Twelve months after the child's inpatient stay
Completion date	31/12/2012

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Patient
Age group	Child
Lower age limit	7 Years
Upper age limit	13 Years
Sex	All
Target sample size at registration	500
Key inclusion criteria	Current inclusion criterria as of 16/05/2012: 1. Children aged 7-13 years 2. Duration of inpatient stay at least four weeks 3. BMI-SDS exceeding the 97th percentile 4. Informed consent to participate in the study and to participate in the parent training if randomised into the intervention group Previous inclusion criteria: 1. Children aged 7-12 years 2. Duration of inpatient stay at least four weeks 3. BMI-SDS exceeding the 97th percentile 4. Informed consent to participate in the study and to participate in the parent training if randomised into the intervention group
Key exclusion criteria	1. Inadequate German language skills of the parent 2. Secondary obesity as a consequence of other diseases 3. Major comorbid diseases 4. Major behavioural or psychiatric disorder of the child 5. Psychiatric disorder of the parent 6. Previous or concomitant parent training by other sources or accompaniment by the parent during the child's inpatient stay
Date of first enrolment	01/04/2007
Date of final enrolment	31/12/2012

Locations

Countries of recruitment

Germany

Study participating centre

University of Potsdam

Potsdam OT Golm
14476
Germany

Results and Publications

Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	No
IPD sharing plan summary
IPD sharing plan

Study outputs

Output type	Details	Date created	Date added	Peer reviewed?	Patient-facing?
Results article	results	01/08/2016		Yes	No
Results article	results	14/11/2016		Yes	No
Participant information sheet	Participant information sheet	11/11/2025	11/11/2025	No	Yes

Editorial Notes

16/11/2016: Publication references added.
16/05/2012: the overall trial end date was changed from 31/03/2010 to 31/12/2012.