Implementation of the Connect for Health pediatric weight management program: study protocol and baseline characteristics

Simione, Meg; Farrar-Muir, Haley; Mini, Fernanda Neri; Perkins, Meghan E; Luo, Man; Frost, Holly; Orav, E John; Metlay, Joshua; Zai, Adrian H; Kistin, Caroline J; Sease, Kerry; Hambidge, Simon J; Taveras, Elsie M

We are implementing Connect for Health, a primary care-based intervention to improve family-centered outcomes for children, ages 2–12 years, in organizations that care for low-income children. We will use the ‘Reach-Effectiveness-Adoption-Implementation-Maintenance’ framework to guide our mixed-methods evaluation to examine the effectiveness of stakeholder-informed strategies in supporting program adoption and child outcomes. We also describe characteristics of children, ages 2–12 years with a BMI ≥85th percentile and obesity-related care practices. During the period prior to implementation, 26,161 children with a BMI ≥85th percentile were seen for a primary care visit and a majority lacked recommended diagnosis codes, referrals and laboratory evaluations. The findings suggest the need to augment current approaches to increase uptake of proven-effective weight management programs. Clinical trial registration number: NCT04042493 (Clinicaltrials.gov), Registered on 2 August 2019; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04042493.