Background
Many employers are now providing wellness programs to help employees make changes
in diet and exercise behaviors. Improving health outcomes and reducing costs will
depend on whether employees sustain lifestyle changes and maintain a healthy weight
over time.
Purpose
To determine if a 9-month maintenance intervention immediately following a 10-week
worksite exercise and nutrition program would prevent regain of the weight lost during
the program.
Design
RCT.
Setting/participants
In 2008, a total of 330 employees from 24 teams completed a 10-week exercise and nutrition
program at a large hospital worksite and were randomized by team to maintenance or
control (usual care) for 9 months.
Intervention
Internet support with a website for goal-setting and self-monitoring of weight and
exercise plus minimal personal support.
Main outcome measures
Weight loss, percentage weight loss, time spent in physical activity, and frequency
of consumption of fruits/vegetables, fatty foods, and sugary foods at 1 year compared
to baseline. One-year follow-up was completed in 2010, and data were analyzed in 2011.
Results
At 1 year, 238 subjects (72%) completed follow-up assessments. Mean baseline BMI was
27.6 and did not differ between intervention and control. Compared to baseline, both
groups lost weight during the 10-week program and maintained 65% of weight loss at
1 year (p<0.001). There was no difference in weight loss between groups at the end of the 10-week
program (4.8 lbs vs 4.3 lbs, p=0.53 for group X time interaction) or end of maintenance at 1 year (3.4 lbs vs 2.5
lbs, p=0.40 for group X time interaction). All subjects had improvements in physical activity
and nutrition (increased fruits/vegetables and decreased fat and sugar intake) at
1 year but did not differ by group.
Conclusions
An intensive 10-week team-based worksite exercise and nutrition program resulted in
moderate weight loss and improvements in diet and exercise behaviors at 1 year, but
an Internet-based maintenance program immediately following the 10-week program did
not improve these outcomes.
Trial registration
This study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov NCT00707577.
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Article info
Footnotes
Erica Healy was employed at Massachusetts General Hospital when this research was completed.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
