{
    "abstract": "Childhood obesity and its comorbidities disproportionately affect Latinos, but there are not clear interventions to narrow the disparity and have a lasting impact. Our study aims to assess the 2-year outcomes and explore the potential mechanisms of behavior change, along with the barriers to sustaining those behaviors, among participants of a family-based, culturally tailored Spanish-language weight management program.\nWe conducted a mixed methods study comprised of a retrospective secondary data analysis and semi-structured interviews. The intervention, Active and Healthy Families, consisted of eight biweekly group sessions for child-caregiver dyads in an emerging Latinx community. We extracted clinic visit data from child participants and matched controls from 2017 to 2021. We compared normalized BMI measurements (BMIpct95) between the intervention and control arm participants using mixed effects linear regression modeling from the start to 2 years post-intervention. We conducted caregiver interviews from 2020 to 2021 after intervention participation and performed a\u00a0thematic analysis.\nIntervention participation for the 40 AHF child participants was associated with a lower-than-expected average BMIpct95 compared to controls at two years post-intervention. Interview themes included as follows: (1) caregivers felt responsible for their children's health; (2) families acquired new knowledge that they applied; (3) the group format facilitated mutual support and sharing; and (4) the COVID-19 pandemic exposed barriers to maintaining behavior change.\nThe AHF intervention may effectively support\u00a0long-term pediatric weight loss in an emerging Latinx community. Parents offered insights into key intervention components that may facilitate behavior change and identified opportunities to reduce barriers to sustain those behaviors.",
    "authors": [
        {
            "affiliation": "The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 601 N Caroline St, Baltimore, MD, USA. jlacharite@mednet.ucla.edu.\nDepartment of General Internal Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 1100 Glendon Ave. Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA. jlacharite@mednet.ucla.edu.",
            "firstname": "Jaime",
            "initials": "J",
            "lastname": "La Charite"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA.\nDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.\nAdult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science, Aurora, CO, USA.",
            "firstname": "Lisa Ross",
            "initials": "LR",
            "lastname": "DeCamp"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.",
            "firstname": "Laura",
            "initials": "L",
            "lastname": "Prichett"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.",
            "firstname": "Amanda Grace",
            "initials": "AG",
            "lastname": "Finney"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of General Internal Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 1100 Glendon Ave. Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.",
            "firstname": "Jenny Y",
            "initials": "JY",
            "lastname": "Chen"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 601 N Caroline St, Baltimore, MD, USA.",
            "firstname": "Albert E",
            "initials": "AE",
            "lastname": "Holler"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of General Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.",
            "firstname": "Yoon Ji",
            "initials": "YJ",
            "lastname": "Moon"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.",
            "firstname": "Alexa",
            "initials": "A",
            "lastname": "Mullins"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 601 N Caroline St, Baltimore, MD, USA.",
            "firstname": "Rafael",
            "initials": "R",
            "lastname": "Ospino"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, USA.",
            "firstname": "Kori Porosnicu",
            "initials": "KP",
            "lastname": "Rodriguez"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Centro SOL, Johns Hopkins University, 5200 Eastern Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.\nCenter for Salud, Health and Opportunity for Latine, Baltimore, USA.",
            "firstname": "Sarah",
            "initials": "S",
            "lastname": "Polk"
        }
    ],
    "conclusions": "The AHF intervention may effectively support\u00a0long-term pediatric weight loss in an emerging Latinx community. Parents offered insights into key intervention components that may facilitate behavior change and identified opportunities to reduce barriers to sustain those behaviors.",
    "copyrights": "\u00a9 2025. The Author(s).",
    "doi": "10.1007/s40615-025-02420-x\n10.1007/s10903-016-0539-3\n10.1016/j.amepre.2021.10.003\n10.1007/s10900-020-00897-7\n10.3389/fped.2020.00407\n10.1542/peds.2022-060640\n10.1016/j.acap.2015.02.004\n10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.01.012\n10.1007/S40037-019-0509-2\n10.1191/1478088706qp063oa\n10.1177/1090198117727323\n10.1186/s13104-016-2365-z\n10.1038/s41366-018-0158-2\n10.1089/chi.2020.0006\n10.1542/peds.2016-2635\n10.1016/S0140-6736(02)09678-2\n10.1001/jama.288.1.82\n10.1177/1524839921993054\n10.1089/chi.2018.0044\n10.1016/S2213-8587(21)00084-X\n10.1002/oby.22996",
    "journal": "Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities",
    "keywords": [
        "Active and Healthy Families",
        "Immigrant health",
        "Latinx",
        "Mixed method study",
        "Pediatric obesity"
    ],
    "methods": null,
    "publication_date": "2025-04-23",
    "pubmed_id": "40266556\n28005241\n32734580\n32676491\n36622115\n25937516\n30953335\n28851237\n32466678\n28130430\n12090866\n33666103\n30565954\n33933181\n32762129",
    "results": "Intervention participation for the 40 AHF child participants was associated with a lower-than-expected average BMIpct95 compared to controls at two years post-intervention. Interview themes included as follows: (1) caregivers felt responsible for their children's health; (2) families acquired new knowledge that they applied; (3) the group format facilitated mutual support and sharing; and (4) the COVID-19 pandemic exposed barriers to maintaining behavior change.",
    "title": "Two-Year Outcomes for the Active and Healthy Families Pediatric Obesity Group Intervention for Families in an Emerging Latinx Community: a Mixed Methods Study.",
    "xml": "<Element 'PubmedArticle' at 0x788504771260>"
}