Abstract
Objective: This study assessed the effectiveness and feasibility of a health education program developed for workers, in which data was exchanged with participants via e-mail, and cell phone- based technologies.
Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted among 22 men and 17 women (BMI≥25kg/m2 or waist circumference>85 or 90 cm) with an age and sex-stratified random sample. The participants were divided intointervention and control groups. During the 3-month weight-loss support program, we sent e-mails to participants detailing diet and exercise strategies to be followed twice a daily throughout the intervention. The participants were instructed to send cell- phone camera-acquired photographs of their meals for 3 days and received personal dietary guidelines from a dietitian during the support period. The control group received the advice by dietitian at baseline only. We evaluated the change in weight; waist circumference; blood pressure; and plasma triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), fasting blood sugar (FBS), and glycosylated hemoglobin HbA1c) and nutrition intake of participants in the intervention group compared with the control group using the Mann-Whitney test.
Results: Both male and female participants in the intervention group successfully decreased their intentional energy intake over the course of study. The average resulting weight reduction was 3.4 kg in men and 1.3 kg in women. Additionally, FBS levels in women improved among women exposed to the intervention (p<0.05).
Conclusion: This program showed a positive effect on weight control and FBS in women by prompting a decrease in the average dietary energy intake of participants.
