The Effect of a Diet- and Exercise- Related Weight Control Intervention Program on Obesity in Adult Aged 40 and Over
Condition: Metabolic Syndrome; Obesity
MeSH terms: Obesity; Metabolic Syndrome; Syndrome
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to assess study subjects' adherence to different weight control
      intervention programs and the effect of intervention programs on physical and biochemical
      examinations, physical fitness, food intake and exercise behaviors and the prevalence of
      metabolic syndrome and its components' abnormalities.
    

Detailed description: 
      Obesity and metabolic syndrome increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
      Besides, they prevail around the world and certainly become the most important health
      problems globally. Dietary intake and exercise are regarded as the first line approach to
      reduce the occurrence of obesity and metabolic syndrome. The purpose of this study is to
      assess study subjects' adherence to different weight control intervention programs and the
      effect of intervention programs on physical and biochemical examinations, physical fitness,
      food intake and exercise behaviors and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its
      components' abnormalities.

      This is a two-year project. In the first year, we estimated the prevalence of obesity and
      metabolic syndrome and explored their relationship with dietary intake and exercise status
      using the cross-sectional framework in subjects aged 40 years and over from Taichung
      Community Health Study. Then, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the
      effects of three types of weight control educational intervention programs. Obese subjects
      were randomly allocated into "individualized health education group", "fellowship health
      education group" and "mail-delivered health education group". The sample size for these three
      groups was 79, 81, 80, respectively. All subjects received one of three 6-month interventions
      and were followed up for 1 year and were assessed at 6-month interval.

      This study adopted the criteria of WHO for Asia area and the Department of Health (DOH),
      Executive Yuan, Taiwan to define the obesity. The prevalence of obesity for WHO definition
      modified for Asians and DOH among Taichung residents aged forty years old and over is 37.34%
      and 18.79%, respectively. For the effectiveness of weight control educational programs, after
      6-month intervention, reductions in weight, BMI, waist, hip, arm, and bad diet habit were
      observed in all groups. And after 6-month intervention, reductions in BMI is significantly
      greater in the individualized and fellowship weight control groups than in the "health
      education group". After 6-month educational intervention, metabolic syndrome in the
      individualized and fellowship health education groups decreased from 78.48% and 72.84% to
      60.76% and 61.73%, respectively, which corresponded to reductions of 17.72% and 11.11% of
      baseline metabolic syndrome.

      Our study's findings indicate that individualized and fellowship health education groups
      modify food intake and exercise behaviors, and further reduce body composition, level of
      biomarkers and prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components abnormalities.
    

Intervention name(s): Individualized education; Grouped education
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): We conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of three types of weight control educational intervention programs. Obese subjects were randomly allocated into "individualized health education group", "group weight control education" and "mail-delivered health education group".Obese subjects who were randomly allocated into "individualized health education group" received consulting services provided by a doctor, nutritionist and fitness expert. The interventions were 12 sessions over 6 months.; We conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of three types of weight control educational intervention programs. Obese subjects were randomly allocated into "individualized health education group", "group weight control education" and "mail-delivered health education group".Obese subjects who were randomly allocated into "grouped health education group" attended 12 sessions of group intervention over 6 months.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research
Keywords: Obesity; Metabolic syndrome; Weight control educational intervention; Food intake