Recent statistics suggest that worldwide more than 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 are overweight or obese (more severe variant). Obesity during childhood is a significant risk factor for obesity in adulthood, which entails many harmful health risks including the major risk for cancer. This pleads for prevention and early intervention in an at risk group.

The current project aims to tackle the problem of overweight in children by developing, evaluating and disseminating  ‘Stay with me’, a mobile eHealth tool (APP) that serves as a personal coach for parents to realize a sustainable change in the lifestyle of their families. The need for more parental support is documented by research evidence and supported by the children themselves. Based on proof of concept studies of our research group  we have evidence (1) that we can develop a helpful tool that advices and motivates parents for family behavior changes, (2) that eHealth support is feasible and appreciated by parents of children with overweight, (3) that a tool can result in a surplus value regarding health parameters, adherence and sustainable weight  and (4) that we can disseminate a tool, taking into account experienced barriers. Relying on our past (research) experiences with the development of two mobile eHealth tools for children and a website for parents of children with overweight, the current project aims to adapt our website-based prototype into a mobile eHealth APP for parents.

We have 4 main objectives and translated this in 4 work packages (WP) to realize the objectives: (WP1) develop an APP for parents of children with overweight that can serve as a coaching intervention during and after a standard Multidisciplinary Obesity Treatment (MOT); (WP2) test the feasibility of the APP for parents of children in different age groups (5-14 years) and different cultures; (WP3) show the surplus value on different parameters of the APP in reaching a healthy lifestyle for the family in a controlled study both during MOT and specifically in aftercare and (WP4) initiate the implementation of the APP through professionals, involved in MOT.

Based on current evidence, the mobile eHealth tool (APP) will not be developed as a stand-alone program but as a blended care program, that supports in hybrid format the parents during a lifestyle MOT as well as later on, in aftercare, on a daily basis. The APP will consist of different modules including (i) interactive psychoeducation on how to realize a healthy lifestyle for achieving weight control with advices on the role of healthy eating and being physical active, the importance of monitoring, emotions and self-esteem with the option of tracking the progress of their children (including diary registrations) (ii) behavior changes in family routines, parenting support when they are faced with barriers by offering problem solving techniques on parenting and the family climate (including quiz with automatic feedback and chat box) which will make parents more conscious and skilled in their important role on adopting health-promoting behavior changes and (iii) techniques to respond to motivation dips (including notifications).

The project will realize clear deliverables in the format of an evaluated APP that will be ready to distribute among professionals involved in MOT and will be promoted by important coworkers/stakeholders. Consequently, this project contributes to the health of at risk children (and their families), the decrease of noncommunicable diseases (e.g. more specific cancers) as well as an improved quality of life and even more, this project directly contributes to the strategic aims of policy makers, like the global action plan of WHO to halt global obesity rates by 2025.