A small-changes approach reduces energy intake in free-living humans
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: America On the Move (AOM) is a national weight gain prevention initiative that promotes small lifestyle changes by increasing walking by 2000 steps/day and reducing energy intake by about 100 kcal/day. The study's intent was to determine the impact of these small changes recommendations on steps/day and energy intake. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, food and fluid intake and physical activity in 116 healthy overweight adults (BMI: 25-36 kg/m(2); age: 18-60y) was compared between a non-intervention and an intervention week using diet diaries and pedometers. The major outcomes were steps/day, daily caloric intake, macronutrient intake and meal size. Within subject ANOVAs were conducted to compare results between intervention and non-intervention weeks. RESULTS: Total energy intake was lower during intervention week than non-intervention week (P < .01), including macronutrient contents (all P's < .01), meal size (P < .01), consumption of sugar (P < .01), sugared sodas (P < .01) and sodium (P < .01). Steps/day were higher during intervention week than non-intervention week (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: The results support previous research showing that the message to increase steps/day results in an increase in physical activity. The results demonstrate for the first time that the message to reduce intake by 100 kcal/day does actually result in a lower intake in the short term. People seem to be able to make positive changes in diet and physical activity in response to these messages. If these small changes can be sustained, this approach could be effective in preventing further weight gain in the population.
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Energy restriction, activity monitoring, and frequent patient visits and consultation in the clinic are more consistently effective than others recommending small but theoretically sustainable lifestyle modifications that can be made to improve health.
“It has been shown that these approaches are more consistently effective than others recommending small but theoretically sustainable lifestyle modifications that can be made to improve health (30).”
From Effects on weight loss in adults of replacing diet beverages with water during a hypoenergetic diet: a randomized, 24-wk clinical trial (2015) · cites this paper as [30]
The Conclusion says weight-management recommendations might be more effective with small changes than with intensive temporary exercise and diet programs—the opposite of the attributed comparison. The Discussion likewise describes small changes as potentially more feasible than rigorous diet restrictions. Our copy does not establish that approaches involving frequent clinic visits are more consistently effective. (LLM, conf=0.89)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIntensive programs using energy restriction, activity monitoring, and frequent visits work more reliably than advice to make small, sustainable lifestyle changes.
“It has been shown that these approaches are more consistently effective than other methods that recommend small but theoretically sustainable lifestyle modifications that can be made to improve health (40).”
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- Authors
- Stroebele, N., de Castro, J. M., Stuht, J., Catenacci, V., Wyatt, H. R., & Hill, J. O.
- Affiliations
- University of Colorado Denver (US)
- Corresponding author
- Stroebele, Nanette
- Venue
- Journal of the American College of Nutrition
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2009-02
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 63-68
- ISSN
- 0731-5724 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-1087
- PMC
- PMC2894414
- OpenAlex
- W2151892588
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 3.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of the American College of Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK042549, DK-42549, R37DK042549, P30DK048520)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Keywords
- energy intake, daily step count, physical activity, weight gain prevention, overweight adults, macronutrient intake, meal size, sugar consumption, sodium intake, pedometers, diet diaries
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Analysis of Variance, Energy Intake, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diet, Female, Health Promotion, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Exercise, Walking, Overweight, Young Adult
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