Testing a Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention for Emerging Adults Implemented Within College Health Service Centers
The Miriam Hospital
Summary
This pilot randomized controlled trial will examine a behavioral weight loss intervention that uses a "small change" approach fro emerging adult college students with overweight/obesity. The primary aim is to assess student acceptability and clinically-meaningful weight changes.
Description
Forty percent of emerging adults (age 18-25) have overweight or obesity, which is unlikely to remit and has significant health consequences. However, emerging adults are underrepresented in traditional weight loss programs, drop-out at high rates, and have blunted weight loss outcomes. One potential way to improve participation is to offer BWLIs in college health service centers to reduce barriers to participation. Approximately 40% of emerging adults are enrolled in a postsecondary institution and college health centers are used widely by students. Moreover, delivering an intervention with de…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–29 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * BMI of 25 or greater * Enrolled at college/university where study will take place * English-speaking Exclusion Criteria: * History or current diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or alcohol use disorder (current symptoms also assessed at screening using validated screening questionnaires) * Participation in another formal weight loss program or current utilization of obesity medications * Current or recent pregnancy * Psychiatric hospitalization in the past 12 months * Recent weight loss of 5% body weight or more * History of bariatric surgery * Severe food…
Interventions
- BehavioralBWLI-College
Behavioral modifications are based on empirically-supported principles for weight loss. Diet recommendations follow a small change approach in which participants will make a series of small, self-selected dietary changes each day (\~100-200 calories) that they build on over the course of the intervention. Physical activity recommendations are to achieve 150-250 weekly minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with specific goals and rate of progression that are individualized to each participant.
- BehavioralControl
Psychoeducation around dieting myths, healthy eating, and physical activity
Location
- The Miriam HospitalProvidence, Rhode Island