The key to avoiding the “Freshman 15” may be at college students’ fingertips.
Undergraduates spend eight to 10 hours a day on their cell phones, according to a 2014 Baylor University study. So, why not leverage mobile phones as tools to help students set, monitor and maintain health goals?
That is what George Washington University researcher Melissa Napolitano proposed when she created a weight loss program that uses Facebook and texting to deliver health-related messages to participants.
“Social support and monitoring are critical to any behavior change,” said Dr. Napolitano, an associate professor in the Milken Institute School of Public Health. “Students check Facebook periodically throughout the day and are consistently texting. We thought that delivering healthy lifestyle information through those two platforms, rather than having students log in to a separate website, would be really helpful.”
In a preliminary study conducted at Temple University, Dr. Napolitano and her colleagues found that students who received messages and personalized feedback via Facebook and texts lost an average of 5.3 pounds after an 8-week period. A control group of students who were put on a waiting list and received no advice lost an average of half a pound.
Now, with a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Napolitano will investigate whether that program can translate to other campus communities for an extended period of time.
Bringing the Program to GW
Dr. Napolitano and her colleagues plan to recruit 450 overweight students (determined by their Body Mass Index) from GW and the University of Massachusetts-Boston to enroll in the technology-based program for 18 months.
Students enrolled in the program, called Healthy Body Healthy U (HBHU), will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: Two will focus on weight loss, and the third will promote what Dr. Napolitano calls the “three pillars of health,” having a healthy mind, body and energy.
All participants will enter a private Facebook group, where program leaders will post two videos per week. One video will feature a lesson or information, while the second will show a GW student displaying the behavior or habit in action, such as making a healthy meal, managing stress or completing an exercise.
The group members will participate in polls and discussions, so the researchers can cater the program to users’ specific needs. The researchers also will send participants at least one text message daily to offer health tips and track behavior.
Lauren Winters, a senior in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, will serve as the "face" of the Healthy Body Healthy U program. She will appear in videos and help to virtually guide college students during the 18-month study. (Rob Stewart/GW Today)
Participants will meet with the research team at five check-in sessions—before, during and after the 18-month period—and receive up to $150 for their time. At the final check-in, researchers will assess each student’s weight loss and evaluate changes in his metabolic risk factors.
While the ultimate goal of HBHU is to help students maintain a healthy body weight, Dr. Napolitano also believes that the social nature of the program will help participants to identify resources on campus in order to maintain healthy habits throughout college and beyond.
“We are hoping that students will learn to navigate their campuses to find healthier opportunities and other types of support,” she said. “Having this connectedness within the group may help facilitate that.”
Curbing the Obesity Epidemic
The program, Dr. Napolitano said, addresses a gap in evidence-based weight loss programs available to students on college campuses.
The transitional period from late adolescence to early adulthood is a vulnerable time for weight gain, she said. Males and females gain between 6 and 9 pounds on average during their first year of college. Further, unhealthy habits during the college years can stick with someone as they enter their adult years.
“We know that one third of college students is overweight or obese. And when we get into that next age bracket, the number jumps to around 60 percent,” she said. “If we can start to help young people learn health behaviors and how to manage things like stress and time management, then we can help them lose weight or prevent weight gain.”
Dr. Napolitano said she hopes results from this five-year study will help her research team replicate successful technology-based programs for college campuses across the United States.
“We know that colleges have many challenges related to student health and wellness, so having a program that is already developed and can be delivered electronically could potentially reach the almost 6.2 million overweight or obese college students,” she said.
She added that the study could not be completed without support from the Division of Student Affairs and other campus officials.
“Part of the aim of this program is to talk to key leaders on campus about the challenges and solutions to sustain a program like this,” she said. “So we are really excited to have such support and partnership from them.”
GW undergraduate students who are interested in participating in the 18-month healthy lifestyle study can visit the Healthy Body Healthy U website and complete a brief online screening questionnaire to see if they are eligible. The researchers will continue recruiting students over the next three years.
