Britney Arce
I am a 2nd year PhD student in Health Behavior with a minor in Nutrition Science. My research focus is improving preventative care and my passion is to work with underserved communities. I am part of a research team that just finished a pilot study called eatNplay that is focused on healthy habits for kids and families and also have a couple other projects I am working on that involves preventative care. I work full time as a Clinical Assistant Professor with IU School of Nursing and want to continue my career in academia. My 13+ years of experience as a nurse has given me a passion to collaborate with many other disciplines to have a positive impact on public health.
‘eatNplay’ - A Family-Based, Telehealth Intervention for Childhood Obesity: A Mixed-Methods Randomized Newsletter-Controlled Pilot Study
Britney Arce, Mary Lynn Davis-Ajami, Bailey Ortyl, Myat Su, Kathyrn Hartlieb, Stephanie Dickinson, Lilian Golzarri-Arroyo, Courtney O. Olcott, Myles Faith, Wasantha Jayawardene
Background: Childhood obesity is increasing. A telehealth intervention designed for school-aged children and their guardians that introduces and reinforces healthy behaviors may instill healthy lifestyle choices.
Objective: To examine the effects of a randomized controlled trial of a family-based, telehealth intervention that aims to improve healthy behaviors in children.
Methods: A mixed methods, design randomly assigned 42 families with children aged 5-11 years to an intervention or newsletter control group. Intervention group attended 4-weekly ‘eatNplay’ group videoconferencing telehealth sessions, conducted by a registered nurse and a motivational interviewing expert, to discuss healthy eating, exercise, sleep, and screen time. Control group received 4-weekly newsletters covering those topics. Measures at baseline and week-4 was phase 1 of the 10-week study. Results for phase 1 were analyzed through linear mixed models to compare outcomes between groups pre- and post-intervention with results show in mean, standard deviation, and p-values.
Results: Mean age 8.8±1.8 with 54% female. Intervention vs. control group baseline to week-4 measures for weekday screen time hours on a device were (2.3±0.9 to 2.2±0.8 p < 0.0001 vs. 2.8±1.7 to 2.3±1.9 p < 0.0001); daily cups of weekday water intake (5.1±1.7 to 5.4±1.6 p=0.0196 vs. 5.3±1.6 to 5.2 ±1.6 p=0.0256); daily steps per Fitbit data (8,847±3,854 to 8,321±4,220 vs 6,249±2,420 to 6,727±2,420); and daily sleep hours per Fitbit data (8.4±1.4 to 7.7±3 vs 8.3±1.7 to 7.56±2.5).
Conclusions: A telehealth intervention to discuss and monitor behavior reduced screen time, improved water intake, and increased steps per-day in school-age children compared to newsletter controls.
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