Coaching and education for parents with overweight/obesity and their children

INTERVENTION: 50 parent‐child pairs will be randomly assigned, using a 1:1 ratio, to either the intervention group or control group. A computerized program will be used to determine participant assignment. As participants become eligible, they will be assigned to the next available slot, which will indicate which group they are assigned to. For instance, when using the website http://www.graphpad.com/quickcalcs/randomize1/ to randomly assign participants, it asked for the number of subjects in the study and how many groups they need to be randomly assigned to, and from this, it generated random assignment for that amount of subjects (e.g. Participant 1 = Group A, Participant 2 = Group B, Participant 3 = Group B, etc). For the purposes of this research, Group A will be the intervention group and Group B will be the control group. Group A will receive 9 20‐minute telephone‐based coaching sessions for parents, plus 6 online education sessions. They will create a schedule with their coach to receive these sessions, with 3 per month for 3 months. The agenda of the sessions will be of the participant's choosing. The 6 online health education sessions will consist of 3 sessions focused on physical activity and 3 sessions focused on healthy eating, all of which are created by the research team. These will be open to participants upon entry to the study, and parents will be asked to engage in their next lesson approximately 7‐10 days after their previous one. The uptake of each lesson will be tracked by participant login and duration, and by a “What is the most important lesson I took from this session” question that they will be asked to complete and submit at the end of each module. Group B will receive the same 6 online education sessions received by the intervention group. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, 6 weeks into the intervention, post‐intervention (3 months), and 6 months post‐intervention. CONDITION: Overweight/obese parents and their children (ages 2.5‐10 years) of any weight. ; Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine ; Overweight/obesity SECONDARY OUTCOME: The following will be assessed at the baseline, 6 weeks into the intervention, post‐intervention (3 months) and 6 months post‐intervention and completed only by the parent:; 1. BMI, assessed by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared (kg/m²); 2. Social support, assessed using the Multi‐dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support; 3. Changes in self‐esteem and self‐efficacy, assessed using the following:; 3.1. Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale; 3.2. Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire; 3.3. Self‐Efficacy for Overcoming Barriers; 3.4. Eating Self‐Efficacy Scale; 3.5. Generalized Self‐Efficacy Scale; 3.6. Short Form‐36; 4. Parents' perceptions of the program's impact on themselves and their families, assessed via in‐person interview INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Parents or guardians 2. BMI of > 25 kg/m² 3. Live with their child for at least 5 days of the week 4. Have a child aged 2.5‐10 years 5. Speak English 6. Comfortable using a computer for data collection 7. Live in Middlesex County If there are two parents and two children in a family who meet our inclusion criteria, they will be permitted to participate as two separate dyads. PRIMARY OUTCOME: The following will be assessed at the baseline, 6 weeks into the intervention, post‐intervention (3 months) and 6 months post‐intervention:; 1. Physical activity, assessed using:; 1.1. 7 day pedometer‐determined step count of parent and child (participants will be sent a log to track the end‐of‐day step count for each day the pedometer is worn, to be filled out for themselves and their child); 1.2. International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ); 2. Dietary intake, assessed via 24 hour food recall of parent and child with a 24 Multi‐Pass Recall for parent and child ; 3. Parent perspectives on changes in their and their child's physical activity and nutrition behaviours, assessed via in‐person interview; 4. Parent motivation to engage in healthy behaviours, assessed using the Treatment Self‐Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ); Adult participants will be asked to provide information about their demographics at the baseline. ;