An addiction-based mobile health weight loss intervention: Protocol of a randomized controlled trial
Open accessAbstract
Background The notion of obesity as an addictive process is controversial. However, studies show that between 5.9 and 30.7% of adolescents with obesity report food or eating addiction. Few weight management interventions have tested techniques based on addiction medicine principles.Methods This multi-center randomized control trial (RCT) is designed to test the effectiveness of a mobile health (mHealth) weight-loss intervention based on addiction principles, such as withdrawal and tolerance, in a sample of 180 adolescents (ages 14-18) recruited from four pediatric weight management clinics in Southern California. Akin to a Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) design evaluating multicomponent behavioral interventions, we will compare the combination of an app + phone coaching (App+Coach) to app alone (App) and in-clinic multi-disciplinary (Clinic) intervention arms. The primary outcome is mean change in zBMI and %BMI p95 over 18 months. We hypothesize that youth who receive App+Coach will have a greater reduction in body weight over the 18-month study period at a lower cost than standard of care models. Secondary outcomes include adherence to treatment regimen, intervention satisfaction, effect of the intervention on metabolic factors and activity level. We will also explore potential moderators of intervention effectiveness such as addictive eating habits, self-regulation and executive functioning.Conclusions New and creative approaches are needed to address pediatric obesity. If successful, this RCT may provide an innovative and cost-effective mHealth approach, based on addiction methods, for weight loss among adolescents with overweight and obesity.
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Among adolescents with obesity (n = 18), an FA-informed mobile health (app) intervention reduced zBMI in a more cost-effective manner than the in-clinic intervention.
“Among adolescents with obesity (n = 18), an FA-informed mobile health (app) intervention reduced zBMI in a more cost-effective manner than the in-clinic intervention, and there is currently an RCT underway in a larger sample using this approach [229,230].”
From Separating the Signal from the Noise: How Psychiatric Diagnoses Can Help Discern Food Addiction from Dietary Restraint (2020) · cites this paper as [229]
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- Authors
- Vidmar, A. P., Salvy, S. J., Pretlow, R., Mittelman, S. D., Wee, C. P., Fink, C., Steven Fox, D., & Raymond, J. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Saban Research Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Vidmar, Alaina P.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Contemporary Clinical Trials
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-03
- Volume
- 78
- Pages
- 11-19
- ISSN
- 1551-7144 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8078064
- OpenAlex
- W2909774182
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 4.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Contemporary Clinical Trials (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Children's Hospital Los Angeles Biostatistics Core and NIH/NCRR SC-CTSI (UL1 TR000130)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Keywords
- adolescent obesity, mobile health, food addiction, mobile application, phone coaching, pediatric obesity management, body mass index, medication adherence, metabolic factors, physical activity, self-regulation, executive function, cost-effectiveness
- MeSH terms
- Self-Control, Food Addiction, Adolescent, Body Weight, California, Feeding Behavior, Female, Health Education, Humans, Male, Mentors, Patient Compliance, Research Design, Multicenter Studies as Topic, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Single-Blind Method, Patient Satisfaction, Executive Function, Weight Reduction Programs, Mobile Applications, Pediatric Obesity
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