Exploring Guideline Concordant Pediatric Obesity Care in Outpatient Pediatric Clinics”

About This Grant

SUMMARY The proposed R03 award will further Dr. Colin Orr’s path toward a career as an independent physician- scientist with expertise in the prevention, management, and treatment of pediatric obesity. Dr. Orr is a general pediatrician, and health-services trained researcher whose overarching research goal is to address the pediatric obesity crisis. Dr. Orr’s current work is supported by a K23 Career Development Award from NIDDK that focuses on preventing pediatric obesity developing and piloting the novel Peer Parent Coach Community Collaboration (P2C3) intervention that targets drivers of unhealthy infant weight gain such as inconsistent access to food, maternal mental health, and parental knowledge of infant growth and nutrition. Dr. Orr’s K23 career development has provided him with the necessary mentorship, research experiences, and training to have expertise in the analysis of longitudinal data, designing and conducting randomized clinical trials, qualitative methods, theories of behavioral change, and prevention of pediatric obesity. The proposed R03 will advance Dr. Orr’s professional development by building upon the mentorship, training, and research experiences that are currently supported by Dr. Orr’s K23 award. The proposed R03 will further Dr. Orr’s career development by expanding his research network, allowing him to develop content expertise in the management and treatment of pediatric obesity, and gain mentored experience in implementation science. Specifically, the aims of the proposed research study are to 1) leverage the Science, Technology, and Research and PEDsnet clinical research networks to create a national dataset of children with obesity to understand the current landscape of guideline-concordant pediatric obesity care and 2) guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Science Research, conduct a mixed-methods study of patients, parents, and providers to understand the facilitators and barriers to guideline concordant pediatric obesity care. The findings from the study will address a critical gap in the literature, provide additional training for Dr. Orr’s progression toward an independent career as a physician-scientist, and provide data that can inform a future randomized clinical trial to test implementation strategies to increase the reach and uptake of evidenced-based pediatric obesity guidelines. Dr. Orr will meet regularly with his mentors who will provide feedback on research activities, training on implementation science, and support manuscript and grant writing activities. The proposed research proposal is consistent with the NIDDK’s mission of addressing the pediatric obesity crisis through rigorous science. The project is consistent with Dr. Orr’s overarching research agenda of addressing the pediatric obesity crisis and will prepare Dr. Orr for a career as an independent physician-scientist.