Cooperative Living January/February 2024 - 20

HEALTHYTAKE
Obliterating
Obesity
UVA recruiting participants for
remote rural weight loss study
Story courtesy of UVA Health
U
niversity of Virginia School
of Medicine public health
researchers, together with their
colleagues at the University of South
Carolina, have received a $3.37 million
grant from the National Institutes of
Health to determine if online behavioral
weight-management programs for rural
residents can be improved by adding a
human touch.
UVA researchers say online obesity
programs have typically failed to yield
the same benefi ts as in-person programs,
so they will test three approaches to
add human involvement.
More than 600 volunteer
participants will be enrolled in a core
online 24-week weight loss program
and randomly assigned to receive one
of two forms of feedback on their selfmonitoring
eff orts, as well as potentially
receiving additional components
including weekly group video sessions
and individual coaching calls.
Th e goal is to help residents of rural
areas - where in-person weight loss
programs can be scarce - to manage
their weight and fi ght the obesity
epidemic that has swept America.
" Weight loss of as little as 5%-7%
can reduce obesity-associated comorbidities, "
says UVA public health
researcher Becca Krukowski, one of
the principal investigators. " Access to
weight-management programs can be
limited in rural areas. Th is study will
examine how digital interventions
can be optimized for delivering weight
loss programs to rural populations. "
THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC
More than 130 million Americans
are overweight or obese, and people
living in rural areas experience
signifi cantly higher rates of both
obesity and chronic illnesses associated
with obesity. Many rural areas are also
beset by an increasing lack of access
to healthcare resources.
Finding better ways to help rural
residents manage their weight could
have big benefi ts.
Krukowski, of UVA's Department
of Public Health Sciences, notes that
of Public Health Sciences, notes that
there is already some evidence that
adding a human component to digital
She hopes her new trial
will off er answers on
the best " package " of
treatment components.
Over the next
three years, she and her
collaborators will enroll
20 * Cooperative Living * January-February 2024
there is already some evidence that
adding a human component to digital
obesity-treatment programs can
improve their eff ectiveness.
and provide the program for a total
of 616 men and women, with the
goal of determining which approach,
or which combination of approaches,
is most eff ective at promoting
weight loss. Anyone interested in
participating in the study can go to
ireachstudy.org to fi nd out more
information and determine their
eligibility.
Th e new program has just started
recruiting for the fi rst wave - perfect
timing for New Year's resolutions
related to improving health.
Researchers will look at factors
that contribute to weight loss success,
such as social support, accountability
and problem solving. Th ey will also
consider elements such as gender,
ethnicity and age, as well as the costs
of the intervention components.
IMPROVING AMERICA'S
HEALTH
Ultimately, Krukowski and her
team hope their research will lead
to optimized online weight loss
programs that will be more accessible
to rural residents than in-person
programs. Th at would increase the
public health benefi ts of the programs
and will inform public health policy
decisions such as whether the programs
should be covered by Medicare,
Medicaid and other health insurance
companies.
" Th e study is an exciting
opportunity for rural residents to have
access to a cutting-edge behavioral
weight loss program and also contribute
to science, " Krukowski says.
*
co-opliving.com
http://www.ireachstudy.org http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living January/February 2024

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