Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States.
Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States.
PeerJ. 2024 Oct 3;12:e18268. doi: 10.7717/peerj.18268. eCollection 2024.
The purpose of this intervention was to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of an online weight loss program, EMPOWER, in rural, underserved communities.
Adults with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m living in rural counties were recruited through collaboration with University of Illinois Extension. The intervention lasted 1 year including online educations sessions, nutrition and lifestyle coaching, and diet and weight monitoring a novel web application, MealPlot. Feasibility was measured by enrollment attainment, participant retention, online education session completion, and completion of anthropometric and dietary measures. Acceptability was measured by survey using Likert scales of satisfaction for all program components. Anthropometric measurements, 24-h dietary records, and food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) were measures of program efficacy. Additionally, two interviews were collected for program feedback.
Enrollment of 16 participants was attained, however due to higher than anticipated dropout (retention 62.5%, = 10) at 3-months, 62.5% of the education sessions were completed and 75.0% of anthropometric and dietary measures. The average satisfaction rating for the comprehensive program was 4.2/5 with lowest satisfaction being the MealPlot web application 2.7/5 ( = 11). On average a clinically significant (≥5% baseline weight) weight loss of 6.2 ± 6.0% body weight or 5.7 ± 5.3 kg and improvements to protein and fiber intake at 12 months ( = 10) were observed.
A novel online weight loss program showed adequate to strong feasibility and acceptability and preliminary results indicating efficacy among a pilot sample of rural residents. Future studies are required to investigate means of improving retention and reducing the burden on program collaborators.
本干预研究旨在调查 EMPOWER 在线减重项目在农村、服务不足社区中的可行性、可接受性和初步效果。
通过与伊利诺伊大学推广合作，招募居住在农村县、BMI≥25kg/m2的成年人。干预持续 1 年，包括在线教育课程、营养和生活方式辅导以及饮食和体重监测，使用 MealPlot 这一新型网络应用程序。通过参与率、参与者保留率、在线教育课程完成率以及人体测量和饮食测量完成率来衡量可行性。通过使用所有程序组件满意度的李克特量表对可接受性进行衡量。人体测量指标、24 小时膳食记录和食物频率问卷（FFQ）是衡量方案效果的指标。此外，还收集了两个访谈以获取方案反馈。
共招募 16 名参与者，但由于 3 个月时的辍学率高于预期（保留率 62.5%，n=10），仅完成了 62.5%的教育课程和 75.0%的人体测量和饮食测量。对整个方案的平均满意度评分为 4.2/5，其中对 MealPlot 网络应用程序的满意度最低，为 2.7/5（n=11）。平均体重减轻 6.2±6.0%（基线体重）或 5.7±5.3kg，12 个月时蛋白质和纤维摄入量增加，（n=10）观察到初步效果。
一项新型在线减重方案在农村居民的试点样本中显示出足够的可行性、可接受性和初步效果。需要进一步研究来提高保留率和降低对项目合作方的负担。
