Reducing Obesity Through Play Among Toddlers: Tiny Steps to Health (TSHS) Study

The purpose of this study is to test various ways to help toddlers develop healthy eating and activity behaviors. Parents and toddlers, who participate in this research will be randomly assigned to either 1) continue their lifestyle behaviors for 10-weeks and then receive a health club membership for 1-month, 2) attend a health promotion playgroup together for 10 weeks, or 3) to attend an educational class for parents while toddlers are in childcare for 10-weeks. Physical measures of toddlers (height, weight, dietary intake, activity) will be collected. Parent-report surveys with questions about parenting, toddler diet, toddler temperament, food security status, demographic qualities, and satisfaction with group assignment will be collected. Last, the interactions between parents and toddlers will be observed and assessed during short play tasks via Zoom. All measures will be collected immediately upon signing up for the study (week 0), 10-weeks later (post), and 24-weeks after signing up for the study.

NCT Number	NCT06918821
Lead Sponsor	University of Houston Collaborators: National Institutes of Health (NIH), Baylor College of Medicine, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Conditions	Childhood Obesity
Enrollment	300 participants
Start Date	2025-05-17
Primary Completion	2029-02-28 (estimated)
Study Completion	2029-02-28 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-05-05