A study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion addresses increased rates of obesity among Hispanic communities and one effective approach to counter this. Dr. Brown, with University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and colleagues focused on whether a weight loss program enhanced with a motivational interviewing session can boost participants’ results.
Community healthcare workers used a technique called motivational interviewing (MI). The goal of MI in this study was to help patients access intrinsic motivation to lose weight with diet and exercise. MI is often used as an effective way to produce behavior change where the interviewer guides the participant to find their own stimulus for change by drawing out their priorities and goals.
The study was conducted on Hispanic residents of El Paso, Texas. Participants received a baseline assessment that included a session focused on MI and periodic phone calls at one, three, and six months. These discussions focused on improved diet and exercise. The initial sample was 656 adult participants, of which 374 finished the 12-month study. A bioelectrical impedance scale was used to measure body fat percentage and body mass index.
The authors concluded that patients whose weight loss program included MI were 2.13 times more likely to lose weight and 2.59 times more likely to have reduced body fat percentage by the end of the 12 months. These findings suggest that using MI in addition to established weight loss programs can be effective and efficient at increasing patients’ success and odds of adherence to exercise and diet.
Source:
Brown, L. D., Vasquez, D., Lopez, D. I., & Portillo, E. M. (2022). Addressing Hispanic Obesity Disparities Using a Community Health Worker Model Grounded in Motivational Interviewing. American journal of health promotion : AJHP, 36(2), 259–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171211049679
