Using Tailored Messages to Encourage Healthy Lifestyle Choices in a Brief, Self-directed Intervention

The study aimed to investigate 1) if a brief, regulatory focus-based intervention could promote weight control and changes in certain lifestyle behaviors and 2) how weight was affected by changes in these behaviors. The lifestyle behaviors of interest included meal regularity, self-monitoring of diet and physical activity, fast-food eating, screen related viewing and eating, dietary modifications, self-weighing, and physical activity. It was hypothesized that increases in meal regularity, self-monitoring, healthy dietary modifications, self-weighing, and physical activity would lead to better weight control over six months. Conversely, it was hypothesized that increases in fast food consumption and screen related eating and viewing would lead to poorer weight control over six months. It was expected that promotion and prevention conditions, relative to the control condition, would lead to better weight control and increases in meal regularity, self-monitoring, healthy dietary modifications, self-weighing, and physical activity, and decreases in fast food consumption and screen related eating and viewing. Furthermore, it was expected that the promotion condition would lead to better outcomes than the prevention condition.