Families Improving Together (FIT) for weight loss: A resource for translation of a positive climate-based intervention into community settings

• Main Authors: Kipp, C.J (Author), Kitzman, H. (Author), Law, L.H (Author), St. George, S.M (Author), Wilson, D.K (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2021
• Subjects: adolescent; Adolescent; African American; African Americans; article; body weight loss; child; child parent relation; climate; Communication; controlled study; curriculum; evidence based practice center; Family-based intervention; female; human; Humans; interpersonal communication; Life Style; lifestyle; lifestyle modification; male; Parent-Child Relations; Positive parenting; publication; randomized controlled trial; theoretical study; Translation; Translations; Weight loss; Weight Loss
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Climate-based weight loss interventions, or those that foster a nurturing family environment, address important ecological influences typically ignored by the traditional biomedical treatments. Promoting a climate characterized by positive communication, autonomy support, and parental warmth supports adolescents in making healthy behavioral changes. In addition, encouraging these skills within the family may have additional benefits of improved family functioning and other mental and physical health outcomes. Although several programs have identified essential elements and established the evidence base for the efficacy of these interventions, few have offered resources for the translation of these constructs from theoretical concepts to tangible practice. This paper provides strategies and resources utilized in the Families Improving Together (FIT) for weight loss randomized controlled trial to create a warm, supportive climate characterized by positive communication within the parent-child relationship. Detailed descriptions of how Project FIT emphasized these constructs through facilitator training, intervention curriculum, and process evaluation are provided as a resource for clinical and community interventions. Researchers are encouraged to provide resources to promote translation of evidence-based interventions for programs aiming to utilize a positive climate-based family approach for lifestyle modification. © 2019 The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [e-mail].