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Remotely Delivered Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention Using an Ad Libitum Plant-Based Diet: Pilot Acceptability, Feasibility, and Preliminary Results
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Remotely Delivered Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention Using an Ad Libitum Plant-Based Diet: Pilot Acceptability, Feasibility, and Preliminary Results

Christina Chwyl, Nicholas Wright, Gabrielle M Turner-McGrievy, Meghan L Butryn and Evan M Forman
JMIR formative research, v 6(6), pp e37414-e37414
23 Jun 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/37414
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.2196/37414View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY V4.0,  Open

Abstract

Background Many traditional lifestyle interventions use calorie prescriptions, but most individuals have difficulty sustaining calorie tracking and thus weight loss. In contrast, whole food plant-based diets (WFPBDs) have previously shown significant weight loss without this issue. However, most WFPBD interventions are face-to-face and time-intensive, and do not leverage gold standard behavioral strategies for health behavior change. Objective This open pilot trial was the first to evaluate the feasibility of a fully featured, remotely delivered behavioral weight loss intervention using an ad libitum WFPBD. Methods Over 12 weeks, participants (N=15) with overweight or obesity received a newly designed program that integrated behavioral weight loss and a WFPBD prescription via weekly web-based modules and brief phone coaching calls. Assessments were performed at baseline, midtreatment (6 weeks), and after treatment (12 weeks). Results The intervention was rated as highly acceptable (mean 4.40 out of 5, SE 0.18), and attrition was low (6.7%). In all, intention-to-treat analyses revealed that 69% (10.4/15) of the participants lost 5% of their weight (mean –5.89, SE 0.68 kg). Predefined benchmarks for quality of life were met. Conclusions A pilot digital behavioral weight loss intervention with a non–energy-restricted WFPBD was feasible, and the mean acceptability was high. Minimal contact time (80-150 minutes of study interventionist time per participant over 12 weeks) led to clinically relevant weight loss and dietary adherence for most participants (10.4/15, 69% and 11.8/15, 79%, respectively), and quality of life improvements (reliable change indices >1.53). We hope that this work will serve as a springboard for future larger scale randomized controlled studies evaluating the efficacy of such programs for weight loss, dietary change, and quality of life. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04892030; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04892030

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5 citations in Web of Science
4 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Health Care Sciences & Services
Medical Informatics
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