Mobile Phone Short Message Service (SMS)‎ for Weight Management in Iranian Overweight and Obese Women : A Pilot Study

Abstract EN

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 (n=40) and experimental group (n=40), 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, P=0.018).

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.