P2.J200: COPE: Childhood Obesity Prevention and Empowerment: Using mindfulness-based curriculum for a childhood obesity prevention program in a community after-school setting. 2023 AAP Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) Grant.

Background: Paterson, NJ is an underserved area impacted by multiple negative environmental and social determinants of health (SDoHs ). Recent health needs assessment report for Paterson revealed an increase in childhood obesity with correlation to factors such as food insecurity, lack of safe recreational facilities, and inadequate mental health services. Literature supports the need to equip children with appropriate mindfulness and coping techniques as an important component of obesity prevention to tackle obesity stigma, teasing, and bullying. Supported by a Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) Grant, and partnership with the Boys and Girls Club (BGC) of Paterson, we aimed to create a child-focused, family-centered obesity prevention educational program by delivering a mindfulness-based curriculum.

Project Description: The curriculum was delivered to a total of 45 children, 6-12 years of age. Participants were divided into three cohorts of fifteen children each. For each cohort, educational sessions were conducted once a week for a total of six weeks, from September 2023 to February 2024. Program activities were provided by trained pediatric residents. Primary outcome measures were the observed positive lifestyle changes at home as reported by parents via pre and post participation surveys. Weight and BMI were not used as measures.

Discussion: Baseline data from 17 families, and post-intervention data from 22 families were collected. Regarding changes to diet, exercise, and mindfulness, 95.5%, 90.9%, and 86.4% of families reported positive change in each respectively, compared to 41.2%, 58.8%, 47.1% before participation (“P” values were significant at < 0.01). Additionally, after participating, 95.5% of families stated that they were more likely to continue these positive changes at home, compared to 82.4% before participation. A total of 15 baseline surveys and 16 post-participation surveys were collected from educators and BGC staff. On completion, 100% of educators and staff reported feeling well-equipped to counsel children on healthy diet and exercise and 86.7% felt well-equipped to counsel on mindfulness. Compared to 75% for nutrition and exercise, and 62.5% for mindfulness before participation. In addition, 100% indicated that they are more likely to continue counseling families on positive lifestyle changes, 86.6% wanted to continue participating as volunteer/educators in the COPE project, and 93% felt that the project was successful in implementing a community-based obesity prevention educational program. To promote sustainability of the program, our activity curriculum was incorporated into the BGC website where families and educators can have continued access.

Conclusion: Through project COPE we demonstrated the feasibility of implementing a mindfulness-based curriculum for obesity prevention education through community partnership, with the potential to address negative SDoHs specific to the community. Next steps include further investigating the effect of mindfulness-based approach on weight and BMI reduction through more robust multicenter research.