scholarly journals A Technology-Mediated Behavioral Weight Gain Prevention Intervention for College Students: Controlled, Quasi-Experimental Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. e133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delia Smith West ◽  
Courtney M Monroe ◽  
Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy ◽  
Beth Sundstrom ◽  
Chelsea Larsen ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 205520762097945
Author(s):  
Melissa A Napolitano ◽  
Sarah Beth Lynch ◽  
Meghan N Mavredes ◽  
Benjamin D Shambon ◽  
Laurie Posey

Objective While colleges have implemented brief, tailored interventions for health-risk areas such as alcohol prevention, theoretically-guided digital learning offerings for weight gain prevention have lagged behind in programming and implementation. Thus, the objective was to design and usability test a weight gain prevention digital learning platform for college students with modules targeting key nutrition and physical activity behaviors. Methods Development occurred in iterative phases: formative research, descriptive normative data collection, prototype development, and usability testing. Formative research consisted of background work and survey administration to incoming and current freshmen. Prototype development was guided by theories of behavior change and cognitive processing, and consisted of brief assessment and feedback using written text, graphs, and videos. Iterative usability testing was conducted. Results Current freshmen reported eating more quick order meals per week than incoming freshman, but fewer high-fat snacks and fewer sugary beverages. Current freshmen reported more sedentary time than incoming freshmen. Based on iterative testing results, eight behavioral targets were established: breakfast, high-fat snacks, fried foods, sugary beverages, fruit/vegetables, physical activity, pizza intake, and sedentary behavior. Initial usability testers indicated the modules were easy to understand, held their attention, and were somewhat novel. Analysis of qualitative feedback revealed themes related to content, layout, structure and suggested refinements to the modules. Conclusions A gap exists for evidence-based obesity prevention programs targeted to adolescents as they transition into adulthood. Brief, tailored digital learning interventions show promise towards addressing key behavioral nutrition and physical activity targets among students during the transition to college.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Tate ◽  
M. M. Crane ◽  
M. A. Espeland ◽  
A. A. Gorin ◽  
J. G. LaRose ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel A Laws ◽  
Elizabeth A Denney-Wilson ◽  
Sarah Taki ◽  
Catherine G Russell ◽  
Miaobing Zheng ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The first year of life is an important window to initiate healthy infant feeding practices to promote healthy growth. Interventions delivered by mobile phone (mHealth) provide a novel approach for reaching parents; however, little is known about the effectiveness of mHealth for child obesity prevention. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of an mHealth obesity prevention intervention in terms of reach, acceptability, and impact on key infant feeding outcomes. METHODS A quasi-experimental study was conducted with an mHealth intervention group (Growing healthy) and a nonrandomized comparison group (Baby’s First Food). The intervention group received access to a free app and website containing information on infant feeding, sleep and settling, and general support for parents with infants aged 0 to 9 months. App-generated notifications directed parents to age-and feeding-specific content within the app. Both groups completed Web-based surveys when infants were less than 3 months old (T1), at 6 months of age (T2), and 9 months of age (T3). Survival analysis was used to examine the duration of any breastfeeding and formula introduction, and cox proportional hazard regression was performed to examine the hazard ratio for ceasing breast feeding between the two groups. Multivariate logistic regression with adjustment for a range of child and parental factors was used to compare the exclusive breastfeeding, formula feeding behaviors, and timing of solid introduction between the 2 groups. Mixed effect polynomial regression models were performed to examine the group differences in growth trajectory from birth to T3. RESULTS A total of 909 parents initiated the enrollment process, and a final sample of 645 parents (Growing healthy=301, Baby’s First Food=344) met the eligibility criteria. Most mothers were Australian born and just under half had completed a university education. Retention of participants was high (80.3%, 518/645) in both groups. Most parents (226/260, 86.9%) downloaded and used the app; however, usage declined over time. There was a high level of satisfaction with the program, with 86.1% (143/166) reporting that they trusted the information in the app and 84.6% (170/201) claiming that they would recommend it to a friend. However, some technical problems were encountered with just over a quarter of parents reporting that the app failed to work at times. There were no significant differences between groups in any of the target behaviors. Growth trajectories also did not differ between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS An mHealth intervention using a smartphone app to promote healthy infant feeding behaviors is a feasible and acceptable mode for delivering obesity prevention intervention to parents; however, app usage declined over time. Learnings from this study will be used to further enhance the program so as to improve its potential for changing infant feeding behaviors.


2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e11090-e11090
Author(s):  
Karen Basen-Engquist ◽  
James L. Murray ◽  
George Baum ◽  
Angelica M. Gutierrez-Barrera ◽  
Banu Arun

e11090 Background: Weight gain is a common problem after breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, particularly for women who receive chemotherapy. The weight gain has negative effects on quality of life, increases risk for chronic disease, and may increase risk of breast cancer recurrence. This pilot study tested a behavioral weight gain prevention intervention on weight, IGF-I, and IGFBP-3. Methods: Thirty-nine breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy were randomized to the weight gain prevention intervention or usual care. The intervention focused on exercise (resistance training, aerobic) and eating a low energy dense diet. Participants received 20 sessions during chemotherapy (14 in person and 6 by telephone) and 9 sessions after surgery (3 in person, 6 by telephone). They completed weight and other assessments at baseline (t0), mid-chemotherapy (T1), post-chemotherapy (t2), post surgical recovery (T3), after the post-surgical intervention (T4) and long term follow-up 6-9 months post surgery (T5). Serum was collected at T0, T2, T3, and T5 and analyzed for IGF-I and IGFBP-3. Results: Controlling for baseline weight, the intervention group weighed less than the control group at T1-T4, a result which approached significance (p=.08) in the intent to treat analysis. There was also a significant obesity x treatment group interaction, indicating that the intervention was most effective for patients who were obese at baseline (p=0.03). The groups did not differ in weight at the post-intervention follow-up (p=0.839). There was no significant difference between the groups in IGF-I or IGFBP-3. Conclusions: A diet and exercise intervention delivered during and after chemotherapy can promote weight loss in breast cancer patients, but the results may not be sustained after the intervention ends. [caption]Participants’ weights in kilograms, adjusted for baseline weight (least squares means).[caption] [Table: see text]


Author(s):  
Jennifer R. Banas

Motivation to learn is difficult to generate when learners are uninterested in the topic. This quasi-experimental study explored behavioral construct tailoring as an instructional message design technique to generate motivation and improve cognitive performance. Ninety-eight college students pre- and post-appraised a lesson, completed a cognitive assessment, and attributed performance to affect or competence-related factors. A risk assessment was used to strategically assign experimental learners to one of three tailored lesson introductions. Results indicated that experimental group learners, on some subscales, were more motivated. Positive trends were found for some affective and competence-related performance attributions, as well as cognitive performance. These findings warrant additional research into behavioral construct tailoring.


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 476-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan A. McVay ◽  
Dori M. Steinberg ◽  
Sandy Askew ◽  
Kimberly A. Kaphingst ◽  
Gary G. Bennett

Author(s):  
Naveen Pentakota ◽  
Gomathi Ramaswamy ◽  
Pruthu Thekkur ◽  
Divya Nair ◽  
Palanivel Chinnakali ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Physical activity (PA) is proven to be an effective strategy to avert the life threatening cardiovascular diseases. There is need for developing feasible aids to improve compliance to PA. Hence, we conducted a study among medical college students a) to assess the prevalence of recommended PA level and b) to assess the effectiveness of installing a smartphone application (app) in improving PA. Methodology A quasi-experimental study was conducted among medical college students in Puducherry, India. The baseline PA was assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) and anthropometric measurements such as height and weight were measured as per World Health Organization (WHO) standards. A smartphone app (Runtastic) was installed on the mobile phones of all study participants. At the end of 1 month, the end line PA and anthropometric measurements were captured using same scales. Results Of the total 350 students who were included, the mean age of the participants was 18.9 (0.9) years and 58% of them were male. The proportion of participants with the WHO recommended level of PA increased from 81% at the baseline to 91% after 1 month of installation of the mobile app (p < 0.001). There was also a statistically significant increase in the leisure time PA [median (interquartile range – IQR) of metabolic equivalents (METS): 0 (0–1600) vs. 1260.0 (0–1920)]. Clinically significant change was not seen in body mass index (BMI) though the reduction was statistically significant [(mean (standard deviation – SD) of BMI: 22.54 (2.49) vs. after intervention 22.46 (2.47); p = 0.018]. Conclusion This quasi-experimental study conducted among medical college students reported significant improvement in total and leisure time PA.


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