|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Patients may be encouraged by the results of a 26-week study that showweight-loss counseling via telephone can help people lose almost as muchweight as traditional face-to-face counseling sessions at a clinic.
"Convenience is a major problem for a lot of folks, and the phoneeliminates a lot of these barriers," says lead author Joseph E.Donnelly, EdD, an exercise physiologist at the University of Kansas inLawrence. Donnelly presented his findings at the 2005 Annual ScientificMeeting of NAASO, The Obesity Society, and at the American DieteticAssociation Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo in October2005.
Eighty overweight or obese adults (average age 50 years and average bodymass index 33) were assigned randomly to a clinic, phone, or control group.One group attended clinic meetings, while another took part in a series of1-hour conference calls. For 12 weeks, the clinic and phone groups followedthe same diet of 1,200–1,500 calories a day. Participants in both groupswere taught to incorporate meal replacements in their diet, to eat more fruitsand vegetables, and to build a weekly exercise regimen.
Patients in the clinic and phone groups achieved significantly greaterweight loss than those in the control group—12.9 kg (28.4 lb) and 10.2kg (22.5 lb) vs. 0.35 kg (0.8 lb). Participants in both the clinic and phonegroups achieved the guideline goal of 10% weight loss set out by the NationalHeart, Lung, and BloodInstitute.1 Thepercentage of body weight lost was 13.3% for the clinic group, 10.5% for thephone group, and 0.49% for the control group.
The results are promising for weight-loss interventions delivered by phone,Donnelly says.
"What was interesting was that the phone group had a counselor, and[participants] did develop a rapport with other members. They enjoyed thegroup dynamics but were still anonymous," he says.
Members of the phone group cited convenience and affordability as factorsin their success. Without the need to travel to meetings, participants couldtake part from anywhere. Meal replacements, provided by Health ManagementResources of Boston, were mailed to the phone group, but Donnelly says thesame results could be obtained with other diet plans.
"Counseling is important here," he says. "There have tobe procedures for training both the face-to-face and phone counselors. Healtheducators with a background in weight management and experience in behavioraltherapy and nutrition would be ideal. They have to be able to motivatepeople—keep them on track. I don't believe that weight management isonly the territory of RDs [registered dieticians]." 
References
CiteULike 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||
|
| DOC News | Diabetes | Diabetes Care | Clinical Diabetes | Diabetes Spectrum |
