Clinical & Web-based Diet & Activity Counseling for Men

Clinical & Web-based Diet & Activity Counseling for Men

PACE Project researchers at UCSD are conducting a 2-year study to test the Men in Motion program. The study aims to learn more about how to help men lose weight, become more physically active, and improve their dietary habits. The study is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

This is a randomized controlled trial that will evaluate the effects of a Web-based intervention to improve physical activity and dietary behaviors in overweight and moderately obese men age 25 through 55 years. The study will complement our currently funded NCI project evaluating a similar intervention among overweight female primary care patients. Overweight is related to multiple cancers, CVD, and NIDDM, and the prevalence of overweight is increasing rapidly (NIH 1998). Patient-centered Assessment and Counseling for Exercise plus Nutrition - Internet (PACEi) targets weight-related behaviors and gives patients a tool for addressing these behaviors with their primary care practitioners should they choose to do so. PACEi includes a web-based assessment and progress planning tool, and 12 months of tailored Internet and telephone contact. The components are integrated through a common theoretical framework. Subjects will be randomized to PACEi or to a low intensity intervention.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Subjects will be 360 men age 25 through 55 years with BMIs of 25 to 39.9 (those characterized as "overweight" or "obese I" in the recent NIH report on Obesity).

Exclusion Criteria:

• More severely obese participants will be excluded because they may need more intense behavioral, pharmacological or surgical intervention.