Effect of Consuming "Home Meals" on Body Weight

Effect on Weight and Adiposity of "Home Meals" in Women With Overweight or Obesity

The current epidemic of obesity relates to the transition from traditional to industrialised diets. The present project investigates the effect on body energy of recommending the consumption of traditional "home meals", which may be a useful recommendation against obesity. A randomized controlled trial design is applied assigning participants to a recommendation of consuming during 12 weeks either "home meals" or "healthy meals." Frequency of consumption of energy-dense foods and of exercise is monitored throughout the intervention; weight and body fat are measured at baseline and at four-week intervals. The hypothesis is that consuming more frequently "home meals" reduces at least as much weight and adiposity as "healthy meals".

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Overweight and Obesity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Home meals; Behavioral: Healthy meals

Detailed Description

Obesity is a global health problem that requires effective intervention. In Mexico, 2 out of 3 adults are classed as overweight or obese. Weight gain from frequent consumption of energy dense food impairs the metabolism of lipids and glucose which causes the inflammatory state that underlies development of chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease. Mexican women with overweight or obesity consume on average 12 times per week food rich in sugar or fat. This indicates a high prevalence of unhealthy eating habits.

Such unhealthy habits are however determined by the modern environment. The raise in food availability is associated with increase in body weight at population level. Diverse studies indicate also an increase in the number of fast food outlets together with an increase in the frequency of eating out of the home. Therefore, people are exposed to abundance of unhealthy food that leads to acquire the habit of consuming them.

The informative education on "healthy" eating is a main intervention to abate obesity levels in the population. However, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is still increasing. In fact, if this trend continues, in 2025, 32 million of Mexican adults will achieve the diagnosis of obesity.

New perspectives for intervention are needed against obesity. We propose "home meals" as a novel strategy to enhance the effectivity of educative messages on "healthy" eating that generally presents food out of their cultural context. Our definition of "home meal" considers not only the physical space where foods are consumed but also a typical socially accepted preparation based on local foods. This proposal about "home meals" is partly made because the raise of obesity in the population coincides with the replacement of traditional diet by consumption of industrialised unhealthy food.

The present project develops an intervention that compares "home meals" vs. "healthy meals" with regards to their effect on weight and body fat. The aim is to test if the recommendation of eating "home meals" has a slimming effect and how it compares to that of the standard isocaloric recommendation of eating "healthy meals." The hypothesis is that because "home meals" are culturally tailored, they would be easier to practice, and so a similar weight/body fat loss to the "healthy meals" would be at least achieved.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Mexico
  • Toluca, Mexico, 50130
    • Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Médicas

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 58 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• BMI of 25 kg/m2 or above

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of chronic disease

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: "Home meals" condition; The recommendation consists of menus with examples of breakfast, lunch and dinner based on typical preparations plus a prescription of the number of portions of the food groups that provides 1200 kcal with a distribution of 50-60% carbohydrates, 15-20% protein and < 30% lipids.	Behavioral: Home meals; Adult participants with overweight or obesity are asked to consume "home meals" during 12 weeks.
Active Comparator: "Healthy meals" condition; The recommendation consists of the educative graphic tool "Eatwell plate" plus a prescription of the same number of portions of the food groups for a isocaloric diet with the same macronutrient distribution as the "home meals" condition.	Behavioral: Healthy meals; Adult participants with overweight or obesity are asked to consume "healthy meals" during 12 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in weight and body fat	Amount of weight/fat gained or lost during the intervention	Every four weeks during 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in frequency of consumption of energy-dense foods or of exercise	Change in number of times a week in which participants consumed energy dense foods or exercised relative to their baseline levels	Every four weeks during 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Antonio Laguna Camacho, PhD, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 15, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 30, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): June 30, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 9, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 28, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): August 31, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 4, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 2, 2020
• Last Verified: November 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Body Weight; Obesity; Overweight
• Other Study ID Numbers: 15CI1506014

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Yes
• IPD Plan Description: Materials and dataset is available in the OSF platform
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: 22 August 2019

Drug and device information, study documents

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