General information about the project can be found on this page. If you would like site specific information such as venue details, maps and session timings please click on one of the sites listed on the right.

If you need to contact someone from the research team urgently please call 024 761 1583. For general queries to the team please email us.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What happens at the research visits?

The research visit will be conducted at your home by one of the research team. They will do three things while they are with you:

a) Make sure you are happy with the study and that any questions you have are answered. If it is your first research visit, they will also ask you and your child to complete a consent form to show that you have agreed voluntarily to take part.

b) Ask you and your child to complete some questionnaires. These will ask general questions about your eating and activity habits, your health and your use of health services.

c) Take measurements. You and your child will be weighed and measured. Your child will also have their waist measured.

We will do three visits in total. One before the programme, one at 3 months and one at 12 months. We will also be conducting interviews with some families about their experiences of taking part in the trial. These can be arranged within a research visit or at a separate time to suit you.

2. How do I know what group I will be in?

After your first research visit, your family will be allocated, randomly, into the 'Families for Health' programme OR the care that is usually offered to families within your area. Our trial administrator will contact you to let you know what group you have been allocated to, and will provide the relevant information on what happens next.

3. Will anyone know I am taking part?

The research team will know that you are taking part, and we will also let your GP know. All of the data we collect and store about you as a result of taking part is anonymous - we give your family a unique code that is used on all the data collection materials. This means that no one else knows who it refers to except the research team. All information collected as part of the study is kept securely in a locked filing cabinet in a locked office, and on a secure database within the University.

4. What happens if me or my child no longer want to take part?

While we hope you will enjoy taking part in the study, we understand that there may be reasons why taking part is no longer suitable for you. You are free to leave the study whenever you want to without giving a reason. If you are happy to tell us this is the case then of course we won't continue to contact you about it.

5. My child has forgotten to wear the accelerometer. What shall I do?

That is fine. If the whole day has passed, just make a note on the relevant page in the activity diary and start wearing it again the following day. Otherwise put it on as soon as you can and record the time it went on in the activity diary as usual.

6. I need an additional page for the activity diary.

Please find an activity diary page here for you to print off and use. If you need a reminder about how to wear the accelerometer, details can be found here.

7. I have been asked if I would like to take part in an interview. What does this mean?

After you have been on the study for a few months you may be contacted to see if you are willing to share your experiences so far with us. If so and you are happy to do so, one of our research team will visit you at home and will ask you some very general questions about how you have found taking part in the study, what you have enjoyed, and if there are any elements that could be different. We record the interview so that we capture all of the information you give to us.

8. Why cant I discuss my group allocation with the researcher that visits me?

When you have been told which group you are in, it is important this isn't discussed with the research team unless they specifically ask you about it at a certain point in the visit. It is important that they do not know your allocation as this helps to prevent any bias in the measurement process. For example, if they knew that you were on the 'Families for Health' programme, they could record your measurements more positively than they actually are to try and make the 'Families for Health' programme look better. This would be biased. While all of the research team are honest, we have to take steps to prove that we have tried to keep all elements of bias out of the trial as much as possible.