Prediction of BMI Change in Young Children with the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity (FNPA) Screening Tool

Youth obesity prevention practices would be enhanced if modifiable risk factors can be identified before children become overweight. This study evaluated the predictive validity of the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity (FNPA) screening tool, a behaviorally based screening tool designed to assess family environments and behaviors that may predispose youth to becoming overweight. Parents from a large urban school district completed the FNPA screening when children were in first grade. One-year change in measured body mass index (BMI) was used as the primary outcome, and this was computed using the relative change in distance from the BMI value at the 50th percentile. Descriptive, correlation, and mixed modeling analyses were used for survey validation. Over half of the participants exhibited an increase in BMI percentile over the 1-year follow-up with an average change of 0.51 ± 11.5% which is indicative of trends to overweight. Although baseline BMI predicted BMI at follow-up, the FNPA total score explained unique variance in child BMI at follow-up after accounting for baseline BMI, parent BMI, and other demographic variables (p = 0.049). This study demonstrates the potential validity of a simple, easy-to-use screening tool for identifying children that may be at risk for becoming overweight.