HENRY III

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Evaluation of a sustainable obesity prevention programme delivered at scale ‘HENRY’: Effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and its role in obesity prevention within the wider complex system

• IRAS ID

  317992

• Contact name

  Maria Bryant

• Contact email

  maria.bryant@york.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of York

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  16529380, ISRCTN ID

• Duration of Study in the UK

  6 years, 0 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  One in five children start school overweight or with obesity and rates are higher in the most deprived. 'HENRY’ is a solution focused parenting obesity prevention programme delivered over eight weekly 2-hour group sessions in children’s centres. Around 24,500 families have attended HENRY, however, it has not yet been formally tested.
  We will carry out a randomised controlled trial, where we will recruit 14 local authorities and ask each to nominate ~six children’s centres to take part (82 total). Half of the centres will be randomly selected to deliver HENRY alongside standard sessions (like ‘stay and play’) and half will continue to offer standard sessions only.

  Centre staff will recruit 984 parents from both types of centre. Researchers will collect information during home visits including: height, weight, waist circumference (from parents and children), food intake, activity and quality of life. We will then collect the same information 12 months later to compare participants who have attended HENRY and those that did not. We will also explore whether HENRY influences rates of obesity in children's centre staff by inviting them to be weighed and measured at baseline and 12 months later.

  To find out whether HENRY has any long term influence on child weight, we will also collect height and weight information that is routinely collected by health visitors and schools three years after baseline data collection. We will then compare obesity rates in those who took part in the trial to the rest of the local population.

  To explore the wider influence of HENRY on obesity within local government areas
  and across the country we will interview around 60 people (parents, health
  visitors, local council), hold a workshop, and review documents (e.g. council strategies).

• REC name

  North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  23/NW/0089

• Date of REC Opinion

  28 Apr 2023

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion