Effectiveness of a personalized e-coaching intervention on nutritional behavior and eating self-regulation among adults with overweight or obesity: The PRALIMAP-CINeCO randomized trial

Background Interventions targeting eating behavior, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and eating self-regulation demonstrate promise for improving weight loss and preventing weight gain. Multifaceted health e-coaching could enhance the effectiveness of such interventions; however, there is limited empirical evidence of its effectiveness. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of a health e-coaching (HeC) intervention compared to standard care (SC) on changes in eating behavior, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and eating self-regulation among young adults with overweight or obesity. Methods The primary outcome of this randomized trial included improvement in at least two of three components: eating behavior; physical activity and sedentary behavior; and eating self-regulation strategies. The HeC intervention consisted of (1) online asynchronous individual activities and (2) teleconsultations with health professionals. Comparisons between groups were conducted on an intention-to-treat basis by using logistic regression models. Results A total of 100 young adults were followed up at the end of the intervention (49 in the HeC group and 51 in the SC group). At baseline, the mean age was 24.5 ± 5.1 years, and 69% of the participants were women. Intention-to-treat analysis revealed that participants in the HeC group were 3.2 times (95% confidence interval [1.2; 8.2]) more likely to achieve the primary outcome than participants in the SC group. Conclusions The e-coaching intervention was effective at improving nutritional behaviors among young adults who were with overweight or obesity. This study provides valuable insights for the future implementation of scalable e-coaching programs in real-world settings. Trial Registration: NCT05399407 .