K. S. U. Jayaratne

Delivering a Behavior-Change Weight Management Program to Teachers and State Employees in North Carolina

Purpose. To ascertain the effectiveness of a behavior-change weight management program offered to teachers and state employees in North Carolina (NC). Design. Fifteen-week weight management program with premeasures and postmeasures. Setting. State agencies and public K-12 schools in five NC counties. Subjects. A total of 2574 NC state employees enrolled in 141 classes. Intervention. Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less (ESMMWL) is a 15-week weight management program delivered by trained instructors. Lessons inform, empower, and motivate participants to live mindfully as they make choices about eating and physical activity. Measures. Height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, confidence in ability to eat healthy and be physically active, changes in eating, and physical activity behaviors. Analysis. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, χ2 tests, and analyses of variance. Results. Data are reported for 1341 participants in ESMMWL who completed the program, submitted an evaluation, and had not participated in the program in the past; 89% were female and mean age was 48.8 years. Average BMI and waist circumference decreased significantly. Confidence in eating healthfully and being physically active increased significantly. The percentage of participants with a BMI < 30 kg/m2 increased from 40% to 45% and those with a normal blood pressure increased from 23% to 32.5%. Participants reported being more mindful of what and how much they ate (92%), being more mindful of how much daily physical activity they got (88%), and eating fewer calories (87.3%). Conclusion. This project demonstrated the feasibility of implementing a behavior change–based weight management program at the worksite to achieve positive outcomes related to weight, blood pressure, healthy eating, and physical activity behaviors. Programs such as this have the potential to provide health care cost savings.

Using Synchronous Distance-Education Technology to Deliver a Weight Management Intervention

OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of online delivery of a weight management program using synchronous (real-time), distance-education technology to in-person delivery. METHODS Synchronous, distance-education technology was used to conduct weekly sessions for participants with a live instructor. Program effectiveness was indicated by changes in weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and confidence in ability to eat healthy and be physically active. RESULTS Online class participants (n = 398) had significantly greater reductions in BMI, weight, and waist circumference than in-person class participants (n = 1,313). Physical activity confidence increased more for in-person than online class participants. There was no difference for healthy eating confidence. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS This project demonstrates the feasibility of using synchronous distance-education technology to deliver a weight management program. Synchronous online delivery could be employed with no loss to improvements in BMI, weight, and waist circumference.