Digital family program to help children with obesity
Official title: Leveraging Interactive Digital Technology to Increase Access to Family-Based Behavioral Treatment for Childhood Obesity
Funded at 3-C Institute for Social Development · NIH-11142410 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A digital family program to help children with obesity and their caregivers learn healthy habits and manage weight.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Sbir 2 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | 3-C Institute for Social Development NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Mebane, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | August 1, 2024 |
| Project end | May 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $894,687 |
| NIH project number | 5R44HL176464-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11142410 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children with overweight or obesity and their caregivers who want a structured, family-focused digital program to support healthy habits are ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Families without reliable internet or device access, caregivers unable to participate, or children needing specialized medical weight-management care may not benefit from this digital program.
What this research studies
This project is building an all-in-one digital version of Family-based Behavioral Treatment (FBT) that families can use at home. It combines personalized interactive tools for children and caregivers, online training for providers, and digital supports to practice new skills. The makers plan to expand an existing professional e-training platform into a packaged intervention (FBT 2.0) that can be delivered widely. The goal is to make a proven family therapy easier to access without losing the core coaching and behavior-change strategies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the product could let many more families access an evidence-based program to improve child weight, habits, and related health risks like Type 2 diabetes.
How similar studies have gone: Family-based behavioral treatment is an evidence-based approach for pediatric obesity and prior work shows it can work, while digital delivery is promising but still being expanded and tested.
Where this research is happening
-
3-C Institute for Social Development
Mebane, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Derosier, Melissa E. — 3-C Institute for Social Development
- Study coordinator: Derosier, Melissa E.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Understanding how where you live and personal factors during pregnancy affect a child’s risk for obesity and metabolic problems
This project looks at how neighborhood conditions and individual factors during pregnancy may influence a child’s risk of obesity and metabolic health as they grow.
-
A hybrid mobile-family program to prevent obesity in preschoolers
A neighborhood-friendly program uses in-person meetings plus mobile phone support to help Latino families with 2- to 5-year-olds adopt healthier eating, less screen time, and more activity to prevent obesity.
-
Adapting a proven kids’ lifestyle program to boost reach and impact
A study from Stanford aims to spread and improve a well-proven healthy-lifestyle program for children with obesity so more families can use it effectively.
-
Strengthening obesity risk screening and referrals in early childhood
A 3-year study in New York aims to make it easier to find and connect families with social supports to prevent obesity from infancy into later childhood.
-
Childhood obesity and cardiometabolic health in Latino youth from low-income families
This project follows Mexican American kids from birth through mid-adolescence to understand how weight and heart health develop over time.
-
Prenatal exercise modes and how they affect child obesity risk
This study tests which exercise type during pregnancy best protects children from obesity and metabolic problems later in life for women who are overweight or obese.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.