Table 1 Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) Concepts and Components of “Healthy Change” Intervention Group

Reciprocal determinism: explore personal and environmental factors that can contribute to the change of cognition and behavior.

-Investigate the maternal beliefs related to OW-OB

-Etiology of obesity: genetic factors and environmental

-Present and future health effects of OW-OB

-Recognize signs indicating that a child is OW-OB

-Image perceived vs actual image

Self – efficacy: Increase Self-efficacy to manage child’s life style behaviors related to weight.

Modeling - learning by observation

- Explore achievements that have been reached in management child’s life style behaviors related to weight and techniques which could be generalized as desired behaviors.

- Ask the mother to comment an attempt which failed and explore individual and environmental factors that might have contributed in this attempt failed.

- Teaching strategies of calm moment and time out.

- Ask the mother that practice strategies and provide feedback

Behavioral capacity: providing opportunities for the mother to master necessary skills

- Together, identify actions that can be performed to manage child’s life style behaviors related to weight.

Reinforcement: Increase the expectations of outcomes’ behavior

Reinforcing positive behaviors.

- Together, identify maternal feeding style and feeding practices of the participating mothers.

- To identify factors of which contribute to the increase of child’s weight.

- Teaching the participating mother practices that contributes to a healthy child’s weight.