Family Health Education Pilot Project

Most of the established intervention programs primarily focus on children with typical development. Despite that children with intellectual disabilities bear a substantial rate of obesity, they are frequently excluded from intervention programs that aim to prevent obesity by promoting healthy eating habits and improving physical activity. To address this critical gap, we propose adapting and tailoring our effective school-based intervention program to specifically address dietary intake and physical activity aiming to mitigate obesity within this understudied population.

The 8 week program will refine our existing school-based intervention program for Special Olympic Athletes and their families. The project entails four primary deliverables:

1. Development of a modified curriculum specifically addressing nutrition/healthy eating and physical activity aspects for families with a Special Olympics athlete.
2. Finalization of the curriculum, informed by best practices derived from the pilot study.
3. Compilation of a comprehensive report detailing the program’s outcomes.
4. Evaluation of Special Olympics’ 8-week family health education model.

The measurable outcomes encompass:

1. Objective enhancements in positive family communication regarding dietary habits.
2. Objective enhancements in positive family communication pertaining to physical activity.
3. Improvements in fruit and vegetable intake among athletes and family members, using a “Veggie Meter”
4. Enhancements in physical activity levels for athletes and family members objectively assessed through accelerometry.

The Family Health Education project will be conducted by researchers at the Community Health Promotion lab in the University of Houston's Department of Health & Human Performance