Weight-related SMS texts promoting appropriate pregnancy weight gain: A pilot study

Abstract

Objectives Excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) puts women and children at risk of obesity. We piloted an SMS-texting intervention to promote healthy GWG among overweight and obese women. Methods We recruited 35 women and randomized them in a 2:1 fashion to: a tailored SMS-texting intervention (Preg CHAT) vs. a generic texting intervention (Txt4baby). Preg CHAT texts provided personalized feedback based on women's intake of sweetened beverages, fruits and vegetables, fast food, daily steps taken, and weight. We abstracted women's weights from charts and surveyed women at baseline and 32 weeks gestation. Results Few women refused the study; many (30%) did not complete the study, however. Of those in the Preg CHAT arm, 86% responded to texts, and 80% said they would recommend this program to a friend. For women who completed the surveys (n=23), those in the Preg CHAT arm had a mean gain of 6 less pounds than women in the Txt4Baby arm (95% CI -15.9, 4.0; p=0.24). Conclusions This pilot study shows feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of a low-intensity and disseminable intervention to help overweight and obese women reduce GWG. Practice implications An SMS texting program might help overweight women reduce excessive GWG.

The Usability and Effectiveness of Mobile Health Technology�Based Lifestyle and Medical Intervention Apps Supporting Health Care During Pregnancy: Systematic Review

“…Moreover, the lifestyle apps with a target on improvement of health behavior, less gestational weight gain, and smoking cessation showed positive results on effectiveness. However, due to small sample size, significances could often not be demonstrated [21][22][23]27,28,[31][32][33][34][35]. These results are in line with the systematic review by Badawy et al, which evaluated texting and apps for preventive behavior in adolescents [46].…”

“…After activation, there is an adequate short-and long-term use as well as intention to use these apps [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. This is in line with the perceived suitability of the apps that are often judged as good, easy, and simple to use.…”

“…In total, 10 studies reported on effectiveness of the app [20][21][22][23]28,[31][32][33][34][35]. Moreover, 5 studies reported on smoking cessation [22,23,32,33,35].…”

“…These studies focused on smoking cessation [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25], nutrition [17,18], weight control [23], and physical activity [20]. All studies reported that the study participants opened and responded to the messages they received; however, responding to the messages varied from 59 to 100% of all participants in the study.…”

“…For smoking cessation [22][23][24][25][26] as well as for nutrition [26] and weight control [21,27,31], the satisfaction of the participants was high. Participants described the app as helpful or useful.…”