Impact of a home-based obesity prevention intervention on children's eating behaviours: Findings from the Guelph Family Health Study randomised controlled trial.

Children's eating behaviours are important determinants of childhood obesity; however, few studies have examined whether early childhood obesity prevention interventions influence these behaviours. This study investigated the impact of a home-based obesity prevention intervention on children's eating behaviours. The Guelph Family Health Study is a randomised controlled trial of a 6-month obesity prevention intervention focused on establishing healthful household routines among 285 families with preschool-aged children. A total of 384 children (3.5 ± 1.3 years old, 50.3% girls, 20.2% at risk for overweight/obesity, 8.2% with overweight/obesity) were included in the analyses. Children's eating behaviours were assessed using the parent-reported Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and one year after the end of intervention (18 months from baseline). No significant group by time interactions were observed, indicating that the intervention had no significant impact on children's eating behaviours compared to controls. Significant time effects were observed for many eating behaviours. Irrespective of study groups, emotional overeating and food fussiness increased over time, while desire to drink, emotional undereating, and slowness in eating decreased over time. This study showed that, compared to controls, a home-based lifestyle obesity prevention intervention did not influence preschool-aged children's eating behaviours. Future studies should assess whether focusing on eating behaviours in addition to lifestyle behaviours improves the efficacy of childhood obesity prevention interventions and could help prevent the development of obesity-associated eating behaviours in preschool-aged children.