An evaluation of the ‘‘Your Choice’’ lifestyle-based weight management programme
Authors
Gaynor, KarenAdvisors
Hanna, KatherinePublication Date
2008-04
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Aim To evaluate the effectiveness of a lifestyle based weight management programme provided by the community nutrition service of South Manchester PCT. Methods ‘‘Your Choice’’ is an ongoing, dietitian-led, weight management programme consisting of an initial group education day followed by individual three-monthly follow-up appointments. This study included 123 participants. Health related outcomes including body weight, BMI, heart rate, blood pressure and percentage body fat, were analysed for 73 participants that attended the initial education day and at least one follow-up appointment. Questionnaires were completed by 63 participants to investigate reported lifestyle changes, self-efficacy, quality of life as a result of the education day, satisfaction with the programme and reasons for non-attendance. Results 14% of participants on the programme lost >5% (-8.8±4.1kg) and 48% lost 0-5% (-2.3±1.3kg) body weight. Significant reductions in weight and BMI compared with baseline were observed for participants after two (-1.5±4.5kg; n=50) and three (-1.9±4.6kg; n=31) follow-up appointments (P<0.05). Reductions in systolic blood pressure were observed at each follow-up (P<0.05), although no significant changes were observed for diastolic blood pressure or heart rate. Following the education day, participants reported better understanding of food groups (89%), portion sizes (92%), food labelling (78%) and healthy food choices (81%); 93% reported making positive changes to their food choice, 70% reported increasing physical activity and 95% were satisfied with the education day overall. Discussion Attendance of ‘‘Your Choice’’ was associated with significant reductions in weight, BMI and systolic blood pressure, although the magnitude of weight lost was below current recommendations to achieve health benefits. The programme was rated highly in terms of participant satisfaction, and many individuals reported making positive changes to their lifestyles. The questionnaire highlighted reasons for attrition and participant views of the intervention. Conclusions These study findings can be used to improve the ‘‘Your Choice’’ programme and help develop future patient-centred weight management strategies. The education day was shown to be an efficient method of delivering holistic, healthy lifestyle and behaviour change advice. The study was conducted in a real-practice setting which indicates possible suitability of the programme for other UK community settings. However, further strategies need to be identified to enable a greater number of participants to achieve and maintain weight loss in line with current recommendations.Publisher
University of ChesterType
Thesis or dissertationLanguage
enCollections
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