Exercise for overweight and obese women: A multimodal pilot intervention comparing in-person with phone-based delivery of guided imagery

Abstract

Physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour are global public health challenges and are associated with approximately 6% of deaths worldwide. Physical activity begins to decline in late adolescence and continues to decrease throughout adulthood with adult women reporting less activity than men. This 10-week pilot study tested a peer-delivered multi-modal psycho-social intervention with overweight and obese women and compared fitness and psycho-social outcomes by manipulating the delivery mechanism: in-person versus telephone. Thirty-three overweight or obese women were randomised to fitness centre or telephone-tailored counselling for the 10-week intervention. Twenty-two women completed the study (M_age = 20.73, SD = 2.07) with an average body mass index of 29.82 (SD = 5.01). Significant improvements were observed in ratings of perceived exertion during a three-minute step-test, self-determined motivation to exercise, imagery usage, and coping self-efficacy with no between-group differences.

Keywords:

• Peer-delivered exercise intervention
• mental imagery

Acknowledgements

The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Additional information

Funding

This study was partially supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Training Grant [T76MC04925]. Additional support was provided by the West Virginia Prevention Research Center and Cooperative Agreement Number 1-U48-DP-005004 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.