Influence of Daily Self-weighing Supported by Online Supervision on Body Composition and Emotions in Overweight/Obese Women with Anxiety and Depression

Abstract

Background Overweight/obese women are a growing population with high incidence of depression, anxiety and psychological abnormalities. Due to lack of effective responsive measures to emotions and behaviors, weight loss outcomes are often unsatisfactory in overweight/obese women with anxiety and depression. And less attention has been paid to weight loss outcomes and emotions in this group.Objective To explore the effect of daily self-weighing supported by online supervision on body composition and emotions in overweight/obese women with anxiety and depression.Methods A prospective, randomized, controlled study was conducted with 92 overweight/obese women with mild to moderate anxiety and depression voluntarily recruited from Beijing's Haidian District from October to December 2019. The subjects were randomized into an experimental group (n=46) and a control group (n=46) at a ratio of 1∶1, and treated with weight control interventions for three months: besides eating the appropriate food combinations with scientific and individualized guidance and excising rationally, the experimental group measured their body weight daily with online supervision from the special member of our research group and reported the data to the group, while the control group measured their body weight per month, which was collected by our research group through monthly telephone follow-up. Body composition measurement result, anxiety assessed using Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and depression assessed using Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) were compared at baseline and three months after the intervention.Results All the participants completed the questionnaire assessment and follow-up. After the intervention, the control group had higher average body weight, BMI, body fat percentage and body fat as well as larger average visceral fat area than the experimental group （P<0.05） . Reduced body weight, BMI, body fat percentage, body fat and visceral fat area were seen in the experimental group after intervention （P<0.05） . The SAS score and SDS score in the experimental group were also lowered after intervention （P<0.05） . The average post-intervention scores of SAS and SDS in the experimental group were lower than those in the control group （P<0.05） .Conclusion In overweight/obese women with anxiety and depression, daily self-weighing with online supervision contributes to weight and fat loss and the improvement of anxiety and depression symptoms, which is a simple, effective and safe intervention measure.

Keywords

• overweight|obesity|anxiety|depression|daily weighing|self-rating anxiety scale|self-rating depression scale