MPOWERed Messages: Tailored Mobile Messages to Enhance Weight Loss for Teens

Novel Individually Tailored Mobile Messages to Enhance Weight Loss for Teens

Obesity affects millions of American children and increases their risk of adult obesity, a myriad of serious illnesses, increased healthcare costs, and premature death. It is vital to find ways to reverse this epidemic. Multidisciplinary behavioral weight management programs offer the promise of effectively treating childhood obesity. However, participants in such programs often find it challenging to follow recommended treatment plans and frequently drop out from programs without completing them. The proposed project aims to address these problems through frequent contact with patients between office visits. This interim contact will be achieved by automatically sending tailored messages to the mobile phones of adolescents enrolled in a multidisciplinary weight management program (the MPOWER program), as an adjunct to clinic visits.

The investigators hypothesize that program participants who receive the tailored text messages will experience lower attrition rates, increased treatment adherence, and greater weight loss compared to those program participants who do not receive the messages.

Inclusion Criteria:

• BMI ≥ 95th percentile for sex and age according to CDC growth charts
• Enrollment in the MPOWER program
• At least one parent willing and able to participate in the MPOWER program with the adolescent
• Absence of any major medical illness, disability, or moderate/severe mental disorder (e.g., liver disease, renal failure, cancer, bipolar disorder)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of any major medical illness, disability, or moderate/severe mental disorder (e.g., renal failure, cancer, bipolar disorder)
• Physical, mental, or cognitive handicaps that prevent participation
• Chronic use of medications that may affect study outcomes (e.g., Diuretics, oral steroids)
• Girls who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant in the next 6 months, lactating, or within 6 months postpartum