Recruitment, screening and retention
obesity
OBESITY, RECRUITMENT
Families are recruited through the HLC and local pediatricians. Recruitment occurs in waves, with 20-30 parent/child dyads per wave. Interested families complete eligibility screening via telephone, a secure website, or during an HLC clinic visit. Eligible families are invited to an orientation (in person initially, then conducted via Zoom starting with cohort 3) in which study procedures are detailed, eligibility confirmed, and written parental consent/child assent obtained. Consented participants receive detailed instructions for completing food logs and study surveys. At a subsequent visit, staff obtain baseline anthropometrics (after a 12-hr fast), place accelerometers, and review food logs. Randomization occurs following the return of the accelerometer. This baseline period takes place over ~3 weeks to address attrition early in the trial (a period of high attrition in obesity trials [To enhance retention, we offer each family incentives to attend follow-up assessment visits ($25 at 2 months, $50 at 4 months, $75 at 8 months, and $100 at 12 month follow up). We selected this graduated incentive structure as retention is more difficult as time elapses, particularly in a no-treatment maintenance phase.