Researchers at Pennington Biomedical know that in order to get kids eating well, they’ve got to get to the parents. As part of a new study, Pennington Interventionist, Allison Davis, is experimenting with going into the homes of families with young children -- ages two to six. She’s showing parents and their kids how to eat better and move more.
Jessica Watts and her five year old son, J.B., sit around their kitchen table. Davis sits across from them. For the past ten weeks, Davis has been coming to the Watts’ home for one-hour sessions.
She's looking for ways to build physical activity into the family's routine.
Watts mentions they'll be attending a graduation soon. Davis suggests she get there early and take a walk around campus. Or maybe the family could do a lap around the grocery store before they start their shopping.
In the Drive study, Davis is trying to meet the families where they are, which also means looking at how they’re already living their lives and encouraging them to make small adjustments. It's the first study at Pennington to take this approach.
"We have not gone into the community before to offer these sessions. Always before the people had to come to us," she says.
The idea is that if mom is modeling the behavior, then J.B. and his younger sister will begin to pick up on it.
Davis encourages Watts to get J.B. involved in cooking dinner. "Let him choose something to go in the stir fry, like choose the peppers," she says. If he starts learning now what a good pepper looks like, it will become normal to him, and "when he grows up, he's going to choose bright colored, healthy foods."
He seems to be catching on.
Davis asks J.B. to show her a drink that has sugar in it. He comes back with a juice box. When Davis asks him how much sugar is in the drink, he knows where to look. "12 grams," he answers.
The study isn't about dieting. It's about changing behavior.
"A five year old isn't going out to the store and buying cakes and pies and potato chips.That's what the parents bring into the house. What we're really talking to the parent about is creating an environment where healthy eating is encouraged, moving is fun and it's something they do as a family," Davis explains.
She'll continue visiting the Watts family for the next several weeks.