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Division of Growth & Nutrition
DepartmentsDepartment of PediatricsDivisionsDivision of Growth & NutritionConcluded ProjectsTOPS (Tips on Parenting Study)

TOPS (Tips on Parenting Study)

About Us

TOPS is a two phase program designed to implement strategies that will prevent overweight among toddlers. Overweight, defined as a BMI > 95th percentile, in early childhood has reached epidemic proportions with 14% of 2-5 year olds overweight and 26.2% "at risk of overweight," defined as a BMI > 85th percentile.

The study has enrolled 277 mother-child pairs. Toddlers, who were recruited at the WIC clinic and the University of Maryland Pediatrics at the Harbor, are between the ages of 12-30 months at baseline. Information is collected from the toddlers and their primary caregivers at baseline and at follow-up evaluations 6 months and 12 months later.

We hypothesize that altering maternal behavior will have a positive impact on the growth and development of the toddler by preventing behaviors that lead to overweight among children. The parenting intervention will improve parenting skills by offering information on proper approaches to feeding, discipline and educational play. We will compare the growth patterns of toddlers whose mothers were randomized to the maternal and parenting interventions with those in the safety intervention. This study design allows us to examine the mechanisms linking the interventions to improvements in diet, physical activity, and growth.

Tools & Measures

We will measure:

Child

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  • Body Composition
  • Diet *
  • Physical activity
  • Perception of body size*, Temperament*, Feeding Behavior *

    * = mother report 

Mother

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  • Body Composition
  • Physical Activity
  • Diet
  • Self-efficacy, Perception of body size, Depression, Eating attitudes, Parenting Satisfaction

Mother-Child

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  • Parent-child mealtime interactions using videotaped meal observations

Project Coordinator

Black_Maureen

MAUREEN M. BLACK, PhD 
Principal Investigator
University of Maryland, School of Medicine
mblack@umaryland.edu 

Co-Investigators

Publications

Hager EH, McGill AM, Black MM.  Development of a Toddler Silhouette Scale.  Obesity. 2010; 18; 397-401.

McGill A, Hager ER, Black MM. Development and Validation of a Toddler Silhouette Scale. Poster at The Obesity Society Meeting (2007).

Hager ER, Merry B, Wadler L, Black MM.  Novel Approaches to Assessing Physical Activity Among Toddlers. Oral Presentation at the International Conference on Diet and Physical Activity Methodology (2009).

 

More Publications+

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