# Family Inclusive Childhood Obesity Treatment designed for Low Income and Hispanic Families

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2024 · $603,793

## Abstract

Project Summary: This proposal addresses a significant public health problem – childhood obesity and
related health disparities faced by Hispanic children from low-income families – for which interventions are
lacking. This Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) will test the effectiveness of a family-inclusive weight
management program developed for low-income Hispanic populations. Interventions to prevent and treat
childhood obesity have historically excluded Spanish speaking families.
 The intervention to be tested has been designed through in-depth collaborative research involving
childhood-obesity clinician/researchers, safety-net clinics, community organizations, and the low-income and
mostly Hispanic families they serve. The Healthy Living Program / La Vida Saludable (HeLP) has been
designed to achieve reach, retention, and effectiveness for low-income and Hispanic families, including
Spanish Speakers. HeLP incorporates the core components of evidence-based family-based-behavioral-
therapy at a dose the US Preventive Services Task Force has recommended to be effective. The key novel
design components of HeLP include: 1) Inclusion of the entire family. Previous interventions have focused on
parent-child dyads. In HeLP, children with obesity and all siblings 2-16 years and adult caregivers receive
targeted curricular components. Younger healthy weight siblings of children referred for obesity are targeted for
obesity prevention, 2) Hands-on family training in meal-planning, shopping, and cooking is focused on reducing
food insecurity while adapting traditional cuisine, 3) Delivery close to home through a partnership of primary
care clinics and recreation centers, and 4) Delivery by trained, low-cost, culturally and linguistically concordant
health educators.
 The goal of this research is to definitively assess using a randomized controlled design the effectiveness of
the HeLP intervention for treatment and prevention of overweight and obesity vs a primary care counseling
protocol active control condition—Recommended Treatment of Obesity in Primary Care (RTOP). The aims of
this study are to: 1) compare the effectiveness of HeLP vs. RTOP at BMI reduction in three age groups of low-
income Hispanic children with obesity: 2-6, 7-12, and 13-16 years (secondary measures include:
cardiometabolic lab tests, fitness, quality of life, eating behaviors, and food security); 2) To compare the
effectiveness of HeLP at obesity prevention by comparing the BMI trajectory of non-obese 2-11yr old children
with BMI above median whose siblings are enrolled in HeLP vs. RTOP; 3) To study implementation of HeLP
and RTOP within the RE-AIM framework, including: Reach, Adoption, Implementation (fidelity, replication
costs, and cost per unit BMI change), and Maintenance. This proposal seeks to fill a major gap in
understanding of how childhood obesity might be effectively treated in low-income and Hispanic families.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10843208
- **Project number:** 5R01DK130176-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** MATTHEW A. HAEMER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $603,793
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-08-16 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10843208

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10843208, Family Inclusive Childhood Obesity Treatment designed for Low Income and Hispanic Families (5R01DK130176-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10843208. Licensed CC0.

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