Enhancing self-regulation as a strategy for obesity prevention in Head Start preschoolers: the growing healthy study

Alison L Miller, Mildred A Horodynski, Holly E Brophy Herb, Karen E Peterson, Dawn Contreras, Niko Kaciroti, Julie Staples-Watson, Julie C Lumeng

Nearly one in five 4-year-old children in the United States are obese, with low-income children almost twice as likely to be obese as their middle/upper-income peers. Few obesity prevention programs for low-income preschoolers and their parents have been rigorously tested, and effects are modest. We are testing a novel obesity prevention program for low-income preschoolers built on the premise that children who are better able to self-regulate in the face of psychosocial stressors may be less likely to eat impulsively in response to stress. Enhancing behavioral self-regulation skills in low-income children may be a unique and important intervention approach to prevent childhood obesity.