Intervention for ObesityMotivational Wellness Coaching to Reduce Childhood Obesity in Families and Kids

For clinics assigned to mBMI2Kids intervention, Pediatricians will be trained in Motivational Interviewing (MI) and behavioral intervention. Pediatricians will conduct up to 3 sessions with each parent (3 x 10 min) and refer patients electronically to experienced MI-trained lifestyle coaches. With full access to the electronic medical record coaches will call referred families (child's BMI-for-age ≥85th percentile) and deliver a telephonic MI counseling over two years (6 x 45 min) simultaneous with pediatricians. 49 clinics will be selected with 24 participating in the intervention and 25 providing patients with usual care.

The investigators propose to conduct a cluster-randomized pragmatic trial in 49 pediatric clinics in Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC), to test the effectiveness of mBMI2Kids (a modified version of the BMI2 interven-tion) in pediatric clinics (randomization unit). Clinics serve over 45,000 children aged 2-8 yrs who are obese and have high racial/ethnic and socioeconomic diversity (53% Hispanic; 23% state-subsidized insurance). Clinics will be randomized into either 24 intervention or 25 usual care + attention control (enrolling 6,600 children). KP's long-standing electronic medical record (EMR) and stable membership, a research team embedded in care, existing team of lifestyle coaches, and ability to rapidly disseminate findings makes us uniquely positioned to conduct this study.