Preliminary evidence suggests that sequentially changing smoking alongside other risk behaviors was more effective than simultaneous change .
Follow-up period and intervention characteristics impacted effectiveness for some outcomes .
Interventions comprising education ( e.g. , providing information about behaviors associated with health risks ) and skills training ( e.g. , teaching skills that equip participants to engage in less risky behavior ) and targeting multiple risk behaviors concurrently are associated with small changes in diet and physical activity .
Although on average smoking was reduced , it appeared changes in smoking were negatively associated with changes in other behaviors , suggesting it may not be optimal to target smoking simultaneously with other risk behaviors
CONTEXT Multiple risk behaviors are common and associated with developing chronic conditions such as heart disease , cancer , or Type 2 diabetes .
Improving women's preconceptional health: long-term effects of the Strong Healthy Women behavior change intervention in the central Pennsylvania Women's Health Study.
PURPOSE To investigate the long-term ( 6- and 12-month ) effects of the Strong Healthy Women intervention on health-related behaviors , weight and body mass index ( BMI ) , and weight gain during pregnancy .  Strong Healthy Women is a small-group behavioral intervention for pre- and interconceptional women design ed to modify key risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes ; pretest-posttest findings from a r and omized , controlled trial have been previously reported . The following questions are addressed : 1 ) were significant pretest-posttest changes in health-related behaviors ( previously reported ) maintained over the 12-month follow-up period ; 2 ) did the intervention impact weight and BMI over the 12-month follow-up period ; and 3 ) did the intervention impact pregnancy weight gain for those who gave birth during the follow-up period ? METHODS Data are from 6- and 12-month follow-up telephone interviews of women in the original trial of the Strong Healthy Women intervention ( n = 362 ) and from birth records for singleton births ( n = 45 ) during the 12-month follow-up period . Repeated measures regression was used to evaluate intervention effects . MAIN FINDINGS At the 12-month follow-up , participants in the Strong Healthy Women intervention were significantly more likely than controls to use a daily multivitamin with folic acid and to have lower weight and BMI . The intervention 's effect on reading food labels for nutritional values dropped off between the 6- and 12-month follow-up . Among those who gave birth to singletons during the follow-up period , women who participated in the intervention had lower average pregnancy weight gain compared with controls . Although the intervention effect was no longer significant when controlling for pre-pregnancy obesity , the adjusted means show a trend toward lower weight gain in the intervention group . CONCLUSION These findings provide important evidence that the Strong Healthy Women behavior change intervention is effective in modifying important risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes and may improve an important pregnancy outcome , weight gain during pregnancy . Because the intervention seems to help women manage their weight in the months after the intervention and during pregnancy , it may be an effective obesity prevention strategy for women before , during , and after the transition to motherhood
Preliminary evidence suggests that sequentially changing smoking alongside other risk behaviors was more effective than simultaneous change .
Follow-up period and intervention characteristics impacted effectiveness for some outcomes .
Interventions comprising education ( e.g. , providing information about behaviors associated with health risks ) and skills training ( e.g. , teaching skills that equip participants to engage in less risky behavior ) and targeting multiple risk behaviors concurrently are associated with small changes in diet and physical activity .
Although on average smoking was reduced , it appeared changes in smoking were negatively associated with changes in other behaviors , suggesting it may not be optimal to target smoking simultaneously with other risk behaviors
CONTEXT Multiple risk behaviors are common and associated with developing chronic conditions such as heart disease , cancer , or Type 2 diabetes .