Reducing Obesity Through Play Among Toddlers: Tiny Steps to Health (TSHS) Study

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON · Apr 1, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The Tiny Steps to Health (TSHS) Study is a research project aimed at helping toddlers develop healthy eating habits and active lifestyles to combat childhood obesity. In this study, parents and their toddlers will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: one group will continue their usual routines for 10 weeks and then receive a one-month membership to a health club; another group will join a fun playgroup focused on health for 10 weeks; and the third group will attend educational classes for parents while their toddlers are in childcare. Throughout the study, researchers will measure the toddlers' height, weight, and eating habits, as well as gather information from parents about their experiences and interactions with their children.

To participate, parents should be the primary guardian of a toddler aged 18 to 36 months who can walk, and they must be at least 18 years old, fluent in English, and have regular internet access. Families must be willing to fully commit to the program, including participating in activities and assessments via Zoom. It’s important to note that only one toddler and one parent from each family can join the study, but siblings can still attend playgroups or childcare during the parent classes. This study is currently recruiting participants and aims to gather valuable insights into promoting healthier lifestyles for young children.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion criteria:
• • Parents: Primary custodian (i.e., legal guardian) of a toddler, \>18 years, have regular and frequent access to internet, fluent in English.
• • Toddlers: \>/=18 and \</=36 months of age, and walking.
• Exclusion criteria include:
• • Parents or toddlers who have mental or physical conditions that would prevent engagement in nutrition, physical activity, play, or instructional activities in a group setting or families unwilling to commit to the whole program (e.g., planning to move) will be excluded because participants may be randomly assigned to group interventions where engagement in these activities will be expected.
• • Parents who are not fluent in English will be excluded because this study was developed, and pilot tested on an English-speaking population. All study materials are in English, the interventions will be offered in English, and most of the surveys are not available or have been validated for non-English speaking audiences.
• • Parents who are not willing or able to participate in parent-toddler interaction assessments via Zoom will be excluded. This assessment is an important study variable.
• • Parents who are not willing to be recorded will be excluded because all Families Understanding Nutrition and Physically Active LIfestyles (FUNPALs) Playgroup sessions will be recorded for facilitator supervision purposes, and the parent-toddler interaction assessments will be recorded for later coding.
• • Only one toddler and one parent per family will be eligible, but all children and siblings within a household will be able to attend playgroups or childcare while parents are in Healthy Toddler Parent Group (HTPG) classes.
• • Parents and toddlers who received 1 or more sessions of the FUNPALs Playgroup or the HTPG. This study will be running 1 cohort per quarter for 4 years, so it is possible that families may drop out and want to re-enroll in a later cohort or enroll when younger siblings are eligible. They will not be eligible. Also, we will invite families from the community participate in practice sessions of FUNPALs or HTPG to train the facilitators. These families will not be eligible to participate in the study.