Department of Health Behavior and Policy, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
Department of Allied Health Services, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2020 Jun;28(6):1062-1067. doi: 10.1002/oby.22797. Epub 2020 May 6.
In traditional behavioral weight loss (BWL) programs, young adults fare worse than older adults with respect to engagement, retention, and weight loss, but money and use of technology have been cited as program factors that might improve outcomes for this population. This study evaluated young adult performance in internet-based BWL (IBWL) offering financial incentives for self-monitoring and weight loss.
Participants (N = 180; BMI = 33.2 ± 6.0 kg/m ) were randomly assigned to a 12-week IBWL or IBWL + incentives (IBWL + $) group. This secondary data analysis compared young adults (ages 18-35) in IBWL (n = 16) with young adults in IBWL + $ (n = 12) on percent weight loss, engagement, and retention. Young adults (n = 28) were also compared with older adults (ages 36-70; n = 152) on these outcomes.
Young adult weight loss was -2.8% ± 5.2% in IBWL and -5.4% ± 5.7% in IBWL + $ (P = 0.23, partial η = 0.06). A greater proportion of young adults in IBWL + $ achieved a 10% weight loss compared with IBWL (42% vs. 6%, P = 0.02). Compared with older adults, young adults were less engaged, but there were no differences for retention or weight loss (P values > 0.05).
Findings suggest that technology-based BWL has the potential to eliminate weight loss disparities observed between young adults and older adults in in-person BWL trials. Moreover, adding financial incentives holds promise for promoting clinically meaningful weight loss for young adults.
在传统的行为体重管理（BWL）项目中，年轻人在参与度、保留率和体重减轻方面的表现不如老年人，但有人指出，资金和技术的使用是改善这一人群结果的项目因素。本研究评估了提供自我监测和体重减轻奖励的基于互联网的 BWL（IBWL）对年轻成年人的影响。
参与者（N=180；BMI=33.2±6.0kg/m）被随机分配到 12 周的 IBWL 或 IBWL+奖励（IBWL+$）组。本二次数据分析比较了 IBWL 中的年轻成年人（年龄 18-35 岁，n=16）与 IBWL+$中的年轻成年人（n=12）的体重减轻百分比、参与度和保留率。年轻成年人（n=28）也与年龄在 36-70 岁的老年人（n=152）进行了这些结果的比较。
IBWL 中年轻成年人的体重减轻为-2.8%±5.2%，IBWL+$中为-5.4%±5.7%（P=0.23，部分η²=0.06）。IBWL+$中达到 10%体重减轻的年轻成年人比例高于 IBWL（42%比 6%，P=0.02）。与老年人相比，年轻成年人的参与度较低，但保留率或体重减轻没有差异（P 值>0.05）。
研究结果表明，基于技术的 BWL 有可能消除在人际 BWL 试验中观察到的年轻人和老年人之间的体重减轻差异。此外，增加经济奖励有望促进年轻人实现有临床意义的体重减轻。
