Dec 09 2024 1 mins 5
Obesity is a complex condition that all too often begins in childhood. Now a comprehensive program using educational materials and personalized text messages has been shown to enable parents to stave off the early development of obesity in their young children. Eliana Perrin, a Johns Hopkins pediatrics expert, co-led the study.
Perrin: The messages were in the areas of feeding, physical activity, screen time and sleep because those are the four key areas that we know are associated with later risk of obesity, which puts kids at risk for cardiovascular diseases and sets them up on a less healthy trajectory for life. So these are the early habits we wanted infants to get. :26
Over the two year study period, those children whose parents received the text messages stayed on a healthy trajectory for weight and length while those children whose parents did not were more likely to be on an unhealthy trajectory. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.
Perrin: The messages were in the areas of feeding, physical activity, screen time and sleep because those are the four key areas that we know are associated with later risk of obesity, which puts kids at risk for cardiovascular diseases and sets them up on a less healthy trajectory for life. So these are the early habits we wanted infants to get. :26
Over the two year study period, those children whose parents received the text messages stayed on a healthy trajectory for weight and length while those children whose parents did not were more likely to be on an unhealthy trajectory. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.
