%0 Journal Article
%T Mobile Phone Short Message Service (SMS) for Weight Management in Iranian Overweight and Obese Women: A Pilot Study
%A Somayeh Faghanipour
%A Eftekharalsadat Hajikazemi
%A Soghra Nikpour
%A Shabnam al-Sadat Shariatpanahi
%A Agha Fatemeh Hosseini
%J International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/785654
%X We conducted a text message-based intervention for weight management over three months by two months intervention and one month wash-out period. In a quasi-experimental study with control ( ) and experimental group ( ), 80 overweight and obese employed women were entered. Participants were recruited via announcement. All subjects attended a face-to-face information session and received a booklet that contained food calorie chart and strategies and recommendations for weight management. The experimental group received text messages (SMS) about weight management twice a day for two months, in addition to the information and the booklet which they had received in the information session. Also, the experimental group was instructed to weekly self-weight and to send the data to the principle researcher. All subjects were measured for baseline and secondary weight in a standardized manner by a nurse, and the data were compared between the two groups. Experimental group lost more weight than the control group (1.5£¿kg difference, ). Text messaging seems to be an effective channel of communication for weight management in Iranian overweight and obese women. The clinical trial registration number is IRCT201204029360N1. 1. Introduction In recent decades, the prevalence of obesity has increased to an alarming degree throughout the world. According to World Health Organization¡¯s (WHO) report, developing countries parallel to developed world are experiencing a growing trend in the incidence of obesity and overweight. They are joining the global pandemic of obesity because of modernization and urbanization [1, 2]. Overweight and obesity are important risk factors for diabetes type II, insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, selected cancers, and premature death [3]. Obesity is closely associated with some psychological disturbances such as poor body image and self-esteem, depression, and anxiety, particularly in women [4, 5]. From 1999 to 2008, the prevalence of overweight Iranian women adults has dramatically increased from 40.6% to 61%. In the same time period, the prevalence of obese Iranian women has risen from 14.17% to 29.5%. [6]. This increase has been more common among Iranian women than Iranian men [7, 8]. Despite the numerous clinical and commercial weight loss programs in Iran, many individuals hardly use such programs because of various limitations including time, cost, transportation, beside, women who work outside the home have more constraints than others. Therefore, evaluation of different approaches is necessary to find an effective,
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijta/2013/785654/