Eliana Perrin

Dr. Eliana Perrin, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center pediatrician and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, is the dual principal investigator (along with Dr. Kori Flower at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) on a project recently approved for $3.5 million in funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to help curb childhood obesity. 

The funding supports a project focused on implementing a health literacy-informed primary care-based intervention called the Greenlight Plus program. The program consists of well-visit counseling for obesity prevention as well as a digital intervention.

A PCORI-funded study found that more children in the program, which consists of texting parents to support healthy eating and activity goals between pediatric primary care checkups, had a healthy weight at 2 years compared with those receiving clinic health coaching alone. Study results were published in JAMA in 2024.

The PCORI-funded implementation project will expand the Greenlight program to 45 pediatric primary care practices, including many community practices. It will reach approximately 35,000 children, with the goal of promoting healthy habits and healthy weight gain among children from birth to 2 years old.