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First Steps for Mommy and Me: A Pilot Intervention to Improve Nutrition and Physical Activity Behaviors of Postpartum Mothers and Their Infants

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Abstract

To assess the feasibility of a pediatric primary care based intervention to promote healthful behaviors among 0–6 month old infants and their mothers. We enrolled two intervention practices (60 mother-infant pairs) and one usual care control practice (24 pairs) in a non-randomized controlled trial. We completed visits and interviews with 80 (95%) pairs at birth and 6 months. The intervention included (1) brief focused negotiation by pediatricians, (2) motivational counseling by a health educator, and (3) group parenting workshops. We evaluated the intervention effects on infant feeding, sleep duration, TV viewing, and mothers’ responsiveness to satiety cues. Maternal behavioral targets included postpartum diet, physical activity, TV and sleep. At 6 months, fewer intervention than control infants had been introduced to solid foods (57% vs. 82%; P = 0.04), and intervention infants viewed less TV (mean 1.2 vs. 1.5 h/d; P = 0.07). Compared to control infants, intervention infants had larger increases in their nocturnal sleep duration from baseline to follow up (mean increase 1.9 vs. 1.3 h/d; P = 0.05); larger reductions in settling time (mean reduction −0.70 vs. −0.10 h/d; P = 0.02); and larger reductions in hours/day of nighttime wakefulness (mean reduction −2.9 vs. −1.5 h/d; P = 0.08). There were no differences in breastfeeding, response to satiety cues, or maternal health behaviors. A program of brief focused negotiation by pediatricians, individual coaching by health educators using motivational interviewing, and group parenting workshops tended to improve infant feeding, sleep and media exposure, but had less impact on mothers’ own health-related behaviors.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participants and research staff for the First Steps for Mommy and Me study. This study was supported in part by grants from Harvard Medical School, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and by the Physician Faculty Scholars Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Conflicts of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Obesity Prevention Program, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, 133 Brookline Avenue, 6th Floor, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Elsie M. Taveras, Matthew W. Gillman, Jess Haines, Julia McDonald, Sarah Price & Emily Oken

  2. Division of General Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Elsie M. Taveras

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Center for Weight Management, Kansas City, MO, USA

    Katherine Blackburn

  4. Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Matthew W. Gillman

Authors
  1. Elsie M. Taveras
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  2. Katherine Blackburn
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  3. Matthew W. Gillman
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  4. Jess Haines
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  5. Julia McDonald
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  6. Sarah Price
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  7. Emily Oken
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elsie M. Taveras.

Additional information

The abstract of this manuscript was published as part of the proceedings of the Obesity Society Meeting, October 24, 2009 in Washington, DC. This study was supported in part by grants from Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. E.M. Taveras is supported in part by the Physician Faculty Scholars Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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Taveras, E.M., Blackburn, K., Gillman, M.W. et al. First Steps for Mommy and Me: A Pilot Intervention to Improve Nutrition and Physical Activity Behaviors of Postpartum Mothers and Their Infants. Matern Child Health J 15, 1217–1227 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-010-0696-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-010-0696-2

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