Obesity is a significant public health issue within Australia, with 27% of 5 to 17 year-olds classified as overweight or obese.1 A variety of healthy lifestyle and weight management initiatives are delivered throughout Australia to primary school aged children, however it has been identified that limited community-based interventions are available for adolescents.
The Think, Eat and Move (TEAM) Program is an eight-week healthy lifestyle program for 13 to 17 year-old adolescents classified as overweight or obese. Participants complete weekly online learning sessions, supported by weekly 30-minute phone-based consultations with a health professional. A range of supporting resources are provided including SMS and email reminders, online resources, a handouts manual, a portion cup, label reading guidance cards and a fitness tracker. Parents and carers are actively involved in the program and are encouraged to complete the online activities and participate in coaching calls alongside their child.
Seventy-eight eligible adolescents from the Central and Eastern Sydney catchment area commented the program between September 2018 to June 2019 with 83% completing four or more coaching calls and four or more online learning sessions.
For participants with pre and post program measurements and survey data (n=53) significant changes were observed post-program for BMI (-0.98, p>0.001), BMI z-score (-0.2, p>0.001), self-esteem (+3.0, p<0.05), daily fruit consumption (Z=-3.6, p<0.05), daily vegetable consumption (Z=-4.8, p<0.001), daily water consumption (Z=-3.3, p<0.05), days meeting the Australian Physical Activity guidelines (Z=-5.1, p>0.001), and school day screen time (Z=-3.5, p<0.05).
These findings support the continuation of the TEAM Program and further evaluation via a randomised controlled trial.