The Association Between Weight Loss in Caregivers and Adolescents in a Treatment Trial of Adolescents With Obesity

Objective The relationship between weight change in caregivers and their adolescents was evaluated follow-ing a randomized trial of lifestyle modification for adolescents, which included either a conventional diet or meal replacements. Methods Adolescents (N 113) had an M SD age of 15.0 1.3 years (62 % African American; 26 % Caucasian, 12 % other; 81 % female) and body mass index of 37.1 5.1 kg/m2. Results Mixed effects models yielded a significant association between percentage change in body mass index of caregivers and adolescents from baseline to months 4 and 12 (p .01). When caregivers lost above the median (1.67%) at month 4, their adolescents achieved a significantly greater loss at month 12 (9.1 1.3%) compared with adolescents whose caregivers lost less than the median (4.3 1.3%) (p .003). Conclusion Engaging caregivers in their own weight loss efforts during adolescent weight loss treatment may improve adolescent weight loss. Key words adolescent; behavioral intervention; caregiver; weight loss