Work

The Effect of Adherence to Dietary Tracking on Weight Loss: Using HLM to Model Weight Loss over Time

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: The role of dietary tracking on weight loss remains unexplored despite being part of multiple diabetes and weight management programs. Hence, participants of the Diabetes Prevention and Management (DPM) program (12 months, 22 sessions) tracked their food intake for the duration of the study. A scatterplot of days tracked versus total weight loss revealed a nonlinear relationship. Hence, the number of possible tracking days was divided to create the 3 groups of participants: rare trackers (<33% total days tracked), inconsistent trackers (33–66% total days tracked), and consistent trackers (>66% total days tracked). After controlling for initial body mass index, hemoglobin A1c, and gender, only consistent trackers had significant weight loss (−9.99 pounds), following a linear relationship with consistent loss throughout the year. In addition, the weight loss trend for the rare and inconsistent trackers followed a nonlinear path, with the holidays slowing weight loss and the onset of summer increasing weight loss. These results show the importance of frequent dietary tracking for consistent long-term weight loss success.

Source: Journal of Diabetes Research

DOI: 10.1155/2017/6951495

Authors: John Spencer Ingels, Ranjita Misra, Jonathan Stewart, Brandon Lucke-Wold, Samantha Shawley-Brzoska

Institution: West Virginia University

Language: English

Topic: Diabetes Management and Education

Subfield: Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,760