Effects of Nutrition Education Supported by Mobile Application on Weight Loss and Quality of Life: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Background Obesity is a growing health problem which affects people from all age groups all over the world. Obese people do not feel motivated enough to change their lifestyle behaviors. Mobile applications can be used to motivate people.
Objective To evaluate effect of nutrition education supported by MOtiVE mobile application on weight loss and quality of life (QoL).
Methods In this randomized-controlled study, 79 overweight/obese adult patients who presented to University Hospital Outpatient Clinic between March-September 2018 to consult a dietitian were included. All the participants were provided a weight-loss diet program by the dietitian. Then, participants were randomized to experimental and control groups. During the first interview, all participants completed the questionnaire and anthropometric measurements were done. BMI, the scores obtained from different Quality of Life scales and Healthy Eating Index (HEI) were the dependent variables. The participants in the experimental group were provided with daily messages for 3 months via MOtiVE mobile application designed solely for this study. All the participants were asked to present three months later for a follow-up appointment. Using SPSS 25.0, change in BMI, QoL scores and other variables within both groups was assessed via Wilcoxon signed-rank test and McNemar chi-square test. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results Although 39 cases and 40 controls took the first test, 20 cases and 18 controls participants completed the study. The mean BMI decreased significantly in both groups being more predominant in cases as from 33.8 ± 6.0 kg/m2 to 32.8 ± 5.8 kg/m2(p = 0.001) in cases and from 33.3 ± 5.0 kg/m2 to 32.2 ± 4.7 kg/m2 (p = 0.006) in controls. Moreover, waist circumference decreased (p = 0.029), self-esteem (p = 0.035) and healthy eating scores (p = 0.007) increased only in cases significantly.
Conclusions Nutrition education supported by MOtiVE mobile application improved anthropometric measurements, self-esteem, quality of life and healthy eating habits of the overweight/obese participants. Free mobile applications can be used in increasing motivation to adopt new behaviors in order to tackle obesity.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04026971
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Posted 29 May, 2020
Effects of Nutrition Education Supported by Mobile Application on Weight Loss and Quality of Life: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Posted 29 May, 2020
Background Obesity is a growing health problem which affects people from all age groups all over the world. Obese people do not feel motivated enough to change their lifestyle behaviors. Mobile applications can be used to motivate people.
Objective To evaluate effect of nutrition education supported by MOtiVE mobile application on weight loss and quality of life (QoL).
Methods In this randomized-controlled study, 79 overweight/obese adult patients who presented to University Hospital Outpatient Clinic between March-September 2018 to consult a dietitian were included. All the participants were provided a weight-loss diet program by the dietitian. Then, participants were randomized to experimental and control groups. During the first interview, all participants completed the questionnaire and anthropometric measurements were done. BMI, the scores obtained from different Quality of Life scales and Healthy Eating Index (HEI) were the dependent variables. The participants in the experimental group were provided with daily messages for 3 months via MOtiVE mobile application designed solely for this study. All the participants were asked to present three months later for a follow-up appointment. Using SPSS 25.0, change in BMI, QoL scores and other variables within both groups was assessed via Wilcoxon signed-rank test and McNemar chi-square test. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results Although 39 cases and 40 controls took the first test, 20 cases and 18 controls participants completed the study. The mean BMI decreased significantly in both groups being more predominant in cases as from 33.8 ± 6.0 kg/m2 to 32.8 ± 5.8 kg/m2(p = 0.001) in cases and from 33.3 ± 5.0 kg/m2 to 32.2 ± 4.7 kg/m2 (p = 0.006) in controls. Moreover, waist circumference decreased (p = 0.029), self-esteem (p = 0.035) and healthy eating scores (p = 0.007) increased only in cases significantly.
Conclusions Nutrition education supported by MOtiVE mobile application improved anthropometric measurements, self-esteem, quality of life and healthy eating habits of the overweight/obese participants. Free mobile applications can be used in increasing motivation to adopt new behaviors in order to tackle obesity.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04026971
Figure 1
Figure 2