Feasibility and acceptability of a pediatric referral to summer day camps to treat obesity in children from low-income households - children from low-income households have a 25-30% higher…

The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) awarded $453,549 to the University of Central Florida Board of Trustees on September 12, 2025, under the Nursing Research program (CFDA 93.361) to conduct a pilot randomized clinical trial addressing childhood obesity in low-income populations. The project, which concludes August 31, 2027, will test the feasibility and acceptability of referring children aged 5-11 years covered by Medicaid to free summer day camps (SDCs) as a treatment intervention for overweight and obesity. The research responds to documented disparities in obesity prevalence among low-income children and gaps in current behavioral interventions that fail to meet U.S. Preventive Services Task Force intensity recommendations, fail to address cost barriers, and perpetuate obesity-related stigma. The pilot will randomize approximately 80 Medicaid-eligible children with overweight and obesity into intervention and control groups, leveraging summer day camps as settings where children engage in high levels of physical activity, consume federally compliant nutrition options, and maintain consistent sleep schedules.

Nemours Children's Hospital, Florida serves as a sub-awardee (awarded January 5, 2026) and will provide project-specific clinical support including identification and recruitment of eligible children and families from its pediatric clinic, oversight of body mass index assessments conducted pre- and post-summer intervention, weekly recruitment updates to ensure adequate enrollment, and collaborative development of recruitment materials highlighting the health benefits of summer day camp attendance. This collaboration between the university-based research team and a pediatric healthcare provider demonstrates the program's emphasis on community-engaged research and multidisciplinary partnerships to address childhood health disparities.

Feasibility and acceptability of a pediatric referral to summer day camps to treat obesity in children from low-income households - children from low-income households have a 25-30% higher prevalence of owob compared to their higher-income peers. The lack of feasible and effective treatments to address obesity in children with owob and from low-income household's points to a real need for prioritization and urgency. The U.S. Preventive services task force (USPSTF) notes several shortcomings with current behavioral interventions and clinical practice to treat children with owob. Current efforts lack the necessary intensity recommended by USPSTF (26-52 hours in a 6-month period); incorporate multi-component interventions that are not feasible to consistently deliver; do not consider barriers to services/programs, such as cost; do not explore collaborative relationships between providers and community programs, and are expressed as 'treatment', therefore, perpetuating the stigma of being overweight/obese. Our project rationale focuses on addressing these limitations during a critical time for accelerated weight-gain in children with owob, summer. Our pilot randomized clinical trial will provide free access for children to attend summer day camps (SDCS) as a treatment for owob. SDCS are settings where children show high levels of physical activity, consume foods/beverages that meet federal nutrition guidelines, and maintain a consistent sleep schedule during summer. Unfortunately, not all children have access to SDCS. Our team surveyed more than 100 parents/guardians (84% medicaid) who have a child with owob and receives treatment at a pediatric clinic and ~75% reported that they would like to receive a voucher to attend a SDC and that cost was the number one reason why their child did not attend. The proposed pilot randomized clinical trial will randomize a total of 80 children with owob (5-11 years) who are covered by medicaid, into two groups: (1) those who receive a pediatric voucher referral (PVR) from an pediatrician or nurse practitioner to attend an existing SDC for 8 weeks free-of- charge (N=40) or (2) those who continue to receive standard care (control; N=40). By leveraging the expertise of primary care providers and partnering with two well-positioned community partners, our team will evaluate a highly promising intervention to address cost as a barrier for children/families attending summer programming by addressing the following specific aims: 1) to examine the feasibility (intervention delivery) and acceptability (intervention uptake) of the PVR program, 2) to determine the preliminary effectiveness of the PVR program on weight outcomes, and the potential mediating influence of activity, sleep, and diet on any observed changes, and 3) to qualitatively explore the facilitators/barriers of participation in the PVR program and to identify what children and families face during the school year and summer in relation to weight management. Findings will inform the design of a R01 clinical trial. Long term goals of this proposal are to influence policies for subsidizing access to local community SDCS for children/families who meet health criteria (i.e., owob). Scalability of this approach is promising given the widespread presence of SDCS and pediatric health clinics in communities.