Use of Facebook as a Motivating Factor in a Weight-reduction Program for Obese and Overweight Adolescents

Hospital San Jose Tec de Monterrey

Status: Completed

Conditions: Overweight; Obesity

Treatments: Other: Facebook Status Update

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01819376

ADOBFB

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to determine if Facebook can be used as a motivating factor for obese or overweight adolescents in a weight-reduction program.

Full description

This study is a randomized controlled trial. There will be two randomly assigned groups of obese or overweight adolescents (WHO definition). Both groups will be enrolled in a 12 week weight reduction program which includes personal nutritional evaluation and food plan and exercise routine. Follow-up appointments will be held every 3 weeks. One group will be encouraged to update their Facebook status at least once a day, regarding their healthy lifestyle changes (exercise routine, healthy food choice, "checking-in" at the wellness center, kilograms lost, etc). The control group will be asked not to share information about their program on Facebook for 12 weeks. Facebook follow-up will be held by the investigators on the study's Facebook account. Teenagers will be thoroughly explained on how to set the account to a limited profile if they want to. At the end of the program both groups will be compared regarding weight loss and mean BMI.

Enrollment: 26 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 13 to 19 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adolescents between 13 and 19 years old.
• Obese or overweight according to the IOTF.
• No physical or medical impediment for performing physical activity.
• No risk for eating disorders (SCOFF questionnaire).
• Report less than 20 minutes of physical activity per day.
• Have an active Facebook account and use it more than 20 minutes per day.
• Low-risk in the Gatehouse Bullying Scale.

Exclusion criteria

• Physical or medical impediment for performing physical activity.
• Answer "yes" at least twice on the SCOFF questionnaire.
• Report more than 20 minutes of exercise per day.
• Not having an active Facebook account or using it less than 20 minutes per day.
• "High Risk" on the Gatehouse Bullying Scale.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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26 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention: Facebook updates

Experimental group

Description:

The experimental group will be encouraged to update their Facebook status regarding healthy lifestyle decisions at least once a day.

Treatment:

Other: Facebook Status Update

Control: No Facebook

No Intervention group

Description:

This group will be encouraged not to share their healthy lifestyle decisions on Facebook.