Background Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are associated with the burden of premature deaths and huge medical costs globally. There is an increasing number of studies combining a multiple health behavior change (MHBC) intervention paradigm with eHealth approaches to jointly promote weight-related health behaviors among people with NCD; yet, a comprehensive summary of these studies is lacking. Objective This review aims to meta-analyze the effectiveness and systematically summarize the characteristics of the relevant intervention studies for improving the outcomes of physical activity, healthy diet, and weight among people with NCD. Methods Following PRISMA guidelines, 4 electronic databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus) were systematically searched to identify eligible articles based on a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Article selection, quality assessment, and data extraction were independently performed by 2 authors. The standardized mean difference (SMD) was calculated to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for 3 intervention outcomes (physical activity, healthy diet, and weight), and subsequent subgroup analyses were performed for gender, age, intervention duration, channel, and theory. Calculations were conducted, and figures were produced in SPSS 22 and Review Manager 5.3. Results Of the 664 original hits generated by the systematic searches, 15 eligible studies with moderate to high quality were included. No potential publication bias was detected using statistical analyses. Studies varied in intervention channel, intensity, and content. The meta-analysis revealed that the eHealth MHBC interventions significantly promoted physical activity (SMD 0.85, 95% CI 0.23 to 1.47, P=.008) and healthy diet (SMD 0.78, 95% CI 0.13 to 1.43, P=.02), but did not contribute to a healthy weight status (SMD –0.13, 95% CI= –0.47 to 0.20, P=.43) among people with NCDs, compared to the control conditions. Results from subgroup analysis indicated that theory-based interventions achieved greater effect than nontheory-based interventions in promoting physical activity, and interventions with traditional approaches (SMS, telephone) were more effective than those with modern internet-based approaches in promoting healthy diet. Conclusions The results of this review indicates that eHealth MHBC interventions achieve preliminary success in promoting physical activity and healthy diet behaviors among people with NCD. Future studies could improve the intervention design to achieve better intervention effectiveness. Trial Registration PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews CRD42019118629; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=118629

The large-scale COVID-19 pandemic has not only resulted in the risk of death but also augmented the levels of depression in community-dwelling older adults. The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of depression in Chinese older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, to examine the association of individual precautionary behavior with older adults’ depression levels, and to identify the moderating role of socioeconomic indicators in the aforementioned association. Five hundred and sixteen older adults were recruited from five cities of Hubei province in China. They were asked to complete an online questionnaire survey. Results showed that 30.8% of participants indicated a significant depressive symptom during the pandemic. Older adults’ depression levels differed significantly in marital status, living situation, education level, household income, subjective health status, and infected cases of acquaintances. Precautionary behavior change showed significant inverse associations with older adults’ depression levels, where household income moderated this relationship. This is the first study to investigate the characteristics, behavioral correlates, and moderators of depression among Chinese older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research findings may provide new insights into interventions and policy-making on individual precautionary behavior and mental health among older adults for future pandemics.

Background This study aimed to describe the design and present the baseline characteristics of a web-based lifestyle intervention program, which comprises of sequentially and simultaneously delivered intervention modules targeting physical activity (PA) and fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) in Chinese college students. Methods The study adopted a randomized placebo-controlled trial, using the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) and the Compensatory Carry-Over Action Model (CCAM) as the theoretical backdrops. 556 Chinese college students participated in the 8-week web-based lifestyle intervention program. All eligible participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: 1) the PA-first arm which received a 4-week intervention addressing PA followed by a 4-week intervention addressing FVC; 2) the FVC-first arm which received a 4-week intervention addressing FVC followed by a 4-week intervention addressing PA; 3) the PA + FVC simultaneous arm that received an 8-week intervention addressing both PA and FVC at the same time; and 4) the placebo-control arm that received 8 weeks of general health information, which is not relevant for changing actual PA and FVC behaviors. Data collection includes four time-points: at the beginning and end of the intervention, and a 3-month and 12-month follow-up after the intervention. Results At baseline, 41.7% of participants were male and 58.3% were female. 41.0% of the participants did not meet the standard PA-recommendations, while 69.6% did not adhere to the standard FVC-recommendations. In total, only 19.6% of participants met both PA and FVC recommendations. Baseline characteristics across the four groups had no significant differences (all P = .17–.99), indicating successful randomization. Conclusions The preliminary results indicate a high prevalence of unhealthy lifestyles in college students in China, which further supports the need for web-based health intervention programs. This is also the first study that examines the comparative effectiveness of simultaneously and sequentially delivered lifestyle interventions in the Chinese population. These findings may contribute to the creation of future web-based health behavior change interventions. Trial registration ClinicalTrails.gov: NCT03627949 , 14 August, 2018. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-7438-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Web-based interventions for multiple health behavior change (MHBC) appear to be a promising approach to change unhealthy habits. Limited research has tested this assumption in promoting physical activity (PA) and fruit-vegetable consumption (FVC) among Chinese college students. Moreover, the timing of MHBC intervention delivery and the order of components need to be addressed. Objective This study aims to examine the effectiveness of 2 sequentially delivered 8-week web-based interventions on physical activity, FVC, and health-related outcomes (BMI, depression, and quality of life) and the differences in the intervention effects between the 2 sequential delivery patterns. The study also aims to explore participants’ experiences of participating in the health program. Methods We conducted a randomized controlled trial, in which 552 eligible college students (mean 19.99, SD 1.04 years, 322/552, 58.3% female) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: PA-first group (4 weeks of PA followed by 4 weeks of FVC intervention), FVC-first group (4 weeks of FVC followed by 4 weeks of PA intervention), and a control group (8 weeks of placebo treatment unrelated to PA and FVC). The treatment content of two intervention groups was designed based on the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) framework. A total of four web-based assessments were conducted: at baseline (T1, n=565), after 4 weeks (T2, after the first behavior intervention, n=486), after 8 weeks (T3, after the second behavior intervention, n=420), and after 12 weeks (T4, 1-month postintervention follow-up, n=348). In addition, after the completion of the entire 8-week intervention, 18 participants (mean 19.56, SD 1.04 years, 10/18, 56% female) who completed the whole program were immediately invited to attend one-to-one and face-to-face semistructured interviews. The entire study was conducted during the fall semester of 2017. Results The quantitative data supported superior effects on physical activity, FVC, and BMI in the 2 sequential intervention groups compared with the control group. There were no significant differences in physical activity, FVC, and health-related outcomes between the 2 intervention groups after 8 weeks. The FVC-first group contributed to more maintenance of FVC compared with the PA-first group after 12 weeks. Four major themes with several subthemes were identified in the qualitative thematic analysis: PA and FVC behavior, health-related outcomes, correlates of behavior change, and contamination detection. Conclusions This study provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of sequentially delivered, web-based MHBC interventions on PA and FVC among Chinese college students. The timing issue of MHBC intervention delivery was preliminarily addressed. Qualitative findings provide an in-depth understanding and supplement the quantitative findings. Overall, this study may contribute considerably to future web-based MHBC interventions. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03627949; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03627949 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.1186/s12889-019-7438-1

Background: Older adult quality of life (QoL) is facing huge challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. New normal lifestyle behaviors, including getting adequate physical activity (PA), consuming sufficient fruits and vegetables (FV) and enacting individual preventive behaviors (frequent hand washing, facemask wearing, and social distancing), as a significant determinant for QoL, have not been adequately addressed in older adults during the pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of QoL in Chinese older adults after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei China. The objective of the study was to examine any associations of lifestyle behaviors with QoL, and to identify the moderating role of socioeconomic indicators in the associations identified.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hubei, China, from June 15, 2020, to July 10, 2020. Five hundred sixteen older adults completed an online survey (mean age = 67.6 ± 6.6; 57.9% women). The questionnaire consisted of demographic information, covariates (chronic diseases and infected cases of acquaintances), lifestyle behaviors [PA stage, FV intake (FVI) stage and three preventive behaviors], and QoL. T-tests, ANOVA tests, multiple linear regression models with simple slope analyses were used to test the hypotheses.Results: QoL significantly differed in relation to economic situation, chronic diseases, marital status, education, living situation, age group, and professional status. Participants' economic situation (βaverage vs. below average = 0.17, p < 0.01; βabove average vs. below average = 0.15, p < 0.01), chronic diseases (βyes vs. no = 0.19, p < 0.001), FVI stage (β = 0.21, p < 0.001), and preventive behaviors (β = 0.10, p < 0.05) indicated a significant association with QoL. Education level and economic situation significantly interacted with preventive behaviors on QoL, respectively (βpreventive behaviors × educational level = −1.3, p < 0.01; βpreventive behaviors × economic situation = −0.97, p < 0.05).Conclusions: Findings emphasize the importance of enhancing FVI and preventive behaviors on QoL improvement in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Older adults who are in a lower economic situation with lower education levels should be given priority when implementing interventions to improve preventive behaviors and QoL in older adults.