Increasing Exercise Enjoyment and Outcome Expectations Among Women With Obesity

Despite decades of physical activity (PA) research on inactive, obese individuals, we have not successfully moved the needle on exercise participation in this population. A recent review aptly referred to PA recommendations among obese individuals as "the public health guideline that is (almost) entirely ignored"[1]. While we have previously had little understanding of why PA rates are so low in this population, Dr. Leone's research uncovered two possible explanations: (1) women with obesity are less likely to report enjoying exercise and (2) more likely than non-obese women to report exercising only when they are trying to lose weight. In order to affect change among obese women, we need interventions that not only address disparities in enjoyment and outcome expectations. Programs must also be practical and scalable; however, these types of evidence-based programs do not exist within the context that people generally exercise (e.g., community centers, gyms). We propose a novel approach to increasing exercise participation in this population by focusing on exercise enjoyment, increasing appreciation of the proximal benefits of PA rather than focusing on weight, and addressing changes to the exercise environment that make it conducive to this population. By delivering our intervention in partnership with the YMCA, we not only have the ability to make changes to a typical exercise context, but we also ensure that our findings can be used to help exercise-focused community organizations implement a scalable, research-tested program.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Obesity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Fit and Fab

Detailed Description

This is a pilot intervention study with two groups: an intervention group (targeted exercise program for women with obesity and YMCA membership) and a control group (YMCA membership only). The targeted exercise program will be delivered by a YMCA and will be evaluated by our team. The majority of women who are recruited to this study will be randomized to receive the intervention or the control condition. However, we also have a small group of women who has been serving as our community advisory committee (CAC) that will also participate in the intervention classes and receive the membership. They will serve as pilot testers for our data collection methods and provide ongoing qualitative feedback on the intervention as part of their role in the CAC.

The study will take place in two phases at two different YMCAs (Ken-Ton and Independent Health) with approximately half of participants recruited for the first and the other half for the second.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 51
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Buffalo, New York, United States, 14222
      • University at Buffalo

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 64 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Female
• Aged 18-64
• BMI ≥ 30 (self-reported for initial screening and confirmed at informational session using direct measurement)
• Not currently participating in any regularly scheduled exercise (see definition in eligibility screener)
• Willing to come to the Ken-Ton YMCA 2-3x/week (Phase 1) or the Independent Health YMCA (Phase 2)

Exclusion Criteria:

• - Participants may not be pregnant or planning to become pregnant in the next 6 months
• Individuals with disabilities or health conditions that render them unable to participate in exercise or for whom exercise might be dangerous based on their answers to the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire or advisement form their physician

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention	Behavioral: Fit and Fab; participate in a targeted exercise program at the YMCA. Will include: Targeted exercise classes, Strength-training, Group support sessions
No Intervention: Control

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
YMCA attendance	YMCA attendance measured by swipes of member card	3 motnhs

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
MVPA	Minutes/week of moderate-to-vigorous exercise measured via accelerometer	3 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Exercise Enjoyment	Report greater enjoyment and acceptability of the exercise measured by the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES)	3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University at Buffalo

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 30, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): June 30, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 28, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 28, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): August 1, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 29, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 21, 2021
• Last Verified: October 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: obesity, women, exercise, physical activity,
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Overweight; Body Weight; Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1134041

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No