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The primary objective was to develop and test the feasibility and acceptability of the Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment (HOME) program, a pilot childhood obesity prevention intervention aimed at increasing the quality of foods in the home and at family meals. Forty‐four child/parent dyads participated in a randomized controlled trial (n = 22 in intervention and n = 22 in control conditions). The intervention program, held at neighborhood facilities, included five, 90‐min sessions consisting of interactive nutrition education, taste testing, cooking skill building, parent discussion groups, and hands‐on meal preparation. Children (8–10‐year olds) and parents (89% mothers) completed assessments at their home at baseline, postintervention, and 6‐month follow‐up, including psychosocial surveys, anthropometry, 24‐h dietary recalls, and home food availability and meal offering inventories. Feasibility/acceptability was assessed with participant surveys and process data. All families completed all three home‐based assessments. Most intervention families (86%) attended at least four of five sessions. Nearly all parents (95%) and 71% of children rated all sessions very positively. General linear models indicated that at postintervention, compared to control children, intervention children were significantly more likely to report greater food preparation skill development (P < 0.001). There were trends suggesting that intervention children had higher consumption of fruits and vegetables (P < 0.08), and higher intakes of key nutrients (all P values <0.05) than control children. Obesity changes did not differ by condition. Not all findings were sustained at 6‐month follow‐up. Obesity prevention programming with families in community settings is feasible and well accepted. Results demonstrate the potential of the HOME program.

Major stressful life events, particularly those that have chronic hardships, create a crisis for families that often leads to reorganization in the family's style of functioning. A major factor in this reorganization is the meaning the family gives to the stressful event. Often the meaning extends beyond the event itself and leads to a changed view of the family system and even to a changed view of the world. Building on other family stress models, we elaborate the family's definition of the stressor into three levels of family meanings: (1) situational meanings, (2) family identity, and (3) family world view. Examples from clinical work and studies of families adapting to chronic illness are used to illustrate the relationship between these three levels of meaning, particularly as they change in response to crisis. Implications for clinical and empirical work are discussed.

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