Abstract
Purpose.
To examine the impact of a small-changes weight loss program across a 3-month intervention followed by a 6-month follow-up program.
Design.
A one-group pre-post intervention study.
Setting.
Medium-sized Southwestern university.
Participants.
Twenty-five obese adult women (mean body mass index [BMI] = 31.8 kg/m2, standard deviation [SD] = 4.9).
Intervention.
Participants were asked to choose and adopt small changes in their diet and physical activity relative to baseline during weekly group-based meetings over 3 months. Participants then received bi-weekly phone calls across a 6-month follow-up period.
Measures.
Weight change was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included waist circumference, daily step count, and caloric intake.
Analyses.
Intention-to-treat analysis of change from baseline and completers-only analysis (n = 22) for secondary outcomes.
Results.
Participants achieved clinically significant weight loss (mean [M] = − 3.2 kg standard error [SE] = .47 kg p < .001) across the initial small changes treatment program. Moreover, participants continued to lose weight across the 6-month phone-based follow-up program (M = − 2.1 kg SE = .83 kg, p < .017), totaling > 5% weight loss across the 9-month program (M = 5.3 kg SE= 1.1 kg, p < .001).
Conclusion.
Using a small changes approach, participants achieved weight loss in an initial group-based program, which continued with minimal phone-based follow-up. Larger randomized studies comparing a small changes approach to traditional obesity treatment are warranted.