Building Habits Together Online Weight Loss Program

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Obesity

Interventions: Behavioral: Building Habits Together
Behavioral: Getting Healthy Together

Registration Number: NCT06154213

Lead Sponsor: University of Connecticut

Brief Summary: The purpose of this pilot trial is to evaluate the feasibility of a lifestyle intervention where participants will all receive online weight loss counseling delivered via a private Facebook group, but be randomized to the Habit app (developed by the investigators) or MyFitnessPal, a commercial calorie tracking app.

Detailed Description: The purpose of this pilot trial is to evaluate the feasibility of a program where 70 adults with overweight or obesity will receive online weight loss counseling delivered via a private Facebook group, but be randomized to the Habit app (developed by the investigators) or MyFitnessPal, a commercial calorie tracking app. Participants randomized to the Habit app will be asked to record their weight daily, monitor their dietary temptations, plan their exercise, and solve diet and exercise related problems. The temptation tracker helps users identify triggers and track when and why those triggers lead to dietary lapses. The exercise planner allows users to plan their exercise for the week and track whether they completed or missed the exercise and why they missed it. The Habit app provides insights to users about the patterns of their dietary lapses and exercise habits. The problem solver feature helps users identify their biggest problem with diet/exercise and then asks a series of questions to help the app provide tailored solutions to the participant to work on. Participants randomized to MyFitnessPal will track their calorie intake and exercise daily during the intervention.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 70

Inclusion Criteria

18-65 years old
Body mass index (BMI) 27-45 kg/m2
Wi-Fi connectivity at home
Logs into Facebook at least 5 days per week over the past 2 weeks
Has posted/replied on Facebook at least once a week in the past 2 weeks
Able to participate in the study in English
Interested in losing weight

Exclusion Criteria

Under the age of 18 and over the age of 65
BMI under 27 or over 45 at screening; then under 27 at the point of the first weight on scale
Does not have Wi-Fi connectivity at home
Does not have a Facebook account
Does not log into Facebook at least 5 days per week over the past 2 weeks
Did not post/reply on Facebook once a week over the past 2 weeks
Not able to participate in the study in English
Does not live in the United States
Not interested in losing weight
Pregnant/lactating or plans to become pregnant during study period
Reports having bipolar disorder, substance abuse, psychosis, an eating disorder, or severe depression
Had bariatric surgery or plans to have surgery during the study
Currently taking medication affecting weight
Has lost ≥5% of weight in past 3 months
Is participating or intends to participate in another weight loss program during the study that provides coaching or problem solving
Chronic pain that interferes with the ability to exercise
Has Type 1 Diabetes
Has Type 2 Diabetes
Unable to make dietary changes or increase physical activity
Unable to walk ¼ mile unaided without stopping
Currently smokes or vapes nicotine
No phone connectivity at home and work
Has a digestive disorder/condition that precludes dietary changes
Meets criteria for severe depression on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-8 (score of >19)
Does not currently own a smartphone
Smartphone type and/or version not meeting app requirements
Participated in previous weight loss studies under the PI
Unable to attend the orientation webinar
If University of Connecticut (UConn) employee/student has concerns about being in a Facebook group with other UConn faculty, staff, and students
Had major surgery in past 6 months and have not been cleared by their doctor to resume physical activity and diet changes
Plans to have major surgery in the next 6-months
Has an implanted cardiac defibrillator or pacemaker
Did not complete screening and on-board processes of study (screening survey, webinar, e-consent, baseline survey, app set-up, scale set-up, etc.)
Not willing to be audiotaped for focus groups
Prisoner; or
Unable to provide consent

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Building Habits Together	Building Habits Together	The Building Habits Together arm includes the 24-week, Facebook-delivered lifestyle intervention based on the Diabetes Prevention Program and use of the Habit app (temptation tracking, exercise planning, and problem solving features).
Getting Healthy Together	Getting Healthy Together	The Getting Healthy Together arm includes the 24-week, Facebook-delivered lifestyle intervention based on the Diabetes Prevention Program and use of the MyFitnessPal app (daily calorie tracking, exercise tracking).

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Mobile App Use	24 weeks	Investigators will calculate the number of days participants used their assigned app
Retention	24 weeks	Investigators will calculate retention as the proportion of participants who provide weight data at the 24 week follow-up
Engagement Per Participant in the Facebook Group	24 weeks	For each participant, investigators will calculate total engagement in the Facebook group as defined as reactions (e.g., like, care, wow, etc.), replies, posts, and poll votes during the 24-week program. Then we will calculate mean or median engagement per participant over 24 weeks.
Ease of Use (Acceptability)	24 weeks	Participants will rate how easy it was to use their assigned app (% who strongly agree/agree)
Contamination	24 weeks	Investigators will report the percent of participants in the Habit condition that used MyFitnessPal or other calorie tracking apps during the program.
Time Consuming (Burden)	24 weeks	Participants will rate their assigned app in terms of whether they felt it took too much time out of their day (% who strongly agree/agree)