Ring, ring: Phone coaching can improve BMI trajectory

Talking on the phone could mean make a big difference in an individual’s weight loss journey, according to research from Kaiser Permanente. A recent study, published in Obesity, found that those participating in wellness coaching over the phone lost an average of 10 pounds and improved their weight trajectories.

Kaiser Permanente provides coaching to get people moving, eating healthy, reducing stress and quitting smoking. This study focused on telephone wellness coaching in attempting to help participants to lose weight.

"Since the wellness coaching program was launched in Northern California in 2010, we have learned that our members appreciate the opportunity to receive lifestyle coaching on their own schedules by phone," said co-author Nancy Goler, MD, Kaiser Permanente Northern California associate executive director and former director of the Wellness Coaching Center. "Now we have strong evidence that coaching may be helping members to live healthier lives."

This study included 954 Kaiser Permanente Northern California members who received at least one wellness coaching session over the phone. These participants were compared to 19,080 control persons who did not receive wellness coaching. The BMI trajectory of each participant was compared a year before and after the coaching to gauge differences in wellness.

"We found that patients who participated in the coaching sessions lost clinically significant amounts of weight, which is so important because even a small amount of weight loss can help patients experience significant health benefits over time," said Julie A. Schmittdiel, PhD, research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and the study's lead author. "And because obesity and diabetes are major health issues in the United States, behavioral interventions within clinical settings may be an important means for addressing healthy behaviors."

By reversing the trajectory of their BMI, participants showed a clinically significant decreasing in their baseline BMI. These telephone wellness coaching session, when offered by healthcare providers, could be the answer to fighting obesity before and after it happens. Researchers hope that future studies can measure the exact effectiveness of other weight loss systems to provide the most current method in losing weight to patients.