COMPARISON OF SELF-MONITORING TECHNIQUES FOR TRACKING EATING AND EXERCISE BEHAVIORS
Diane Lynn Helsel, PhD
University of Pittsburgh, 2005
Self-monitoring of eating and exercise behaviors has traditionally been done in a detailed manner. Finding ways to simplify this approach would decrease the time involved in the recording process, which may improve long-term adherence to tracking eating and exercise behaviors during weight loss. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of two self-monitoring methods for tracking eating and exercise behaviors within the context of a 16 week correspondence-based weight loss intervention.
Subjects for this investigation were forty-two overweight adult men and women, ages 21 to 45 with a BMI of 25 to 35 kg/m2. Subjects were randomized to one of two self-monitoring conditions: 1) detailed self-monitoring (DSM) and 2) detailed self-monitoring transitioning to abbreviated self-monitoring (TSM). Participants in both groups recorded eating and exercise behaviors in diaries that were completed daily and returned to investigators each week for review. Participants in the DSM group recorded detailed information about the type, quantity, calories and fat grams of food consumed and type, duration, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) of exercise. Participants in the transitional (TSM) group self-monitored eating and exercise behaviors using the detailed (DSM) approach during weeks 1-8, but transitioned to an abbreviated diary during weeks 9-16. This diary allowed participants to simplify self-monitoring by using check marks to estimate the quality and quantity of foods eaten, and amount of exercise completed daily. Unlike the DSM group, specific details of eating and exercise were not recorded.
A repeated measures design was utilized for this study. The independent variable was type of self-monitoring. The primary dependent variable was completion of eating and exercise diaries; secondary dependent variables were body weight, dietary intake and physical activity. The major finding of this investigation was that both groups were similar with regard to the amount of weight lost, food diary completion scores and changes in eating and exercise behavior. Consequently, this study identified an alternative tracking method (i.e., TSM) that may be less effortful, and provides a similar outcome as detailed self-monitoring.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04152005-131414 |
| Date | 18 April 2005 |
| Creators | Helsel, Diane Lynn |
| Contributors | Amy D. Otto, Ph.D, RD, LDN, Kara I. Gallagher, Ph.D., Marsha D. Marcus, Ph.D., John M. Jakicic, Ph.D. |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04152005-131414/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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