OUTCOME OF DIETARY INTERVENTION ON WEIGHT AND ANTHROPOMETRIC INDICES OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESE FEMALES: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Anthropometric Indices of Overweight And Obese Females

Abstract

Objective: To study impact of dietary intervention and counseling on weight and anthropometric indices of obese
females.
Study Design: Prospective randomized controlled trial.
Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS) Shifa, from Feb 2014 to Sep
2014.
Patients and Methods: Study subjects were 320 obese females from Karachi, Pakistan, aged 20 to 40 years. Before
randomization all baseline anthropometric measurements were recorded. After that females were randomly
placed into intervention and control groups. Anthropometry and 24-hour dietary recall were used for nutritional
assessment. Intervention strategy was individualized diet plan by registered dietitian according to base line body
weight and anthropometric indices of study subject. Primary outcome was the change in body weight and body
mass index.
Results: The final analysis was run on 280 participants (intervention=127, control=153). Both intervention and
control group were comparable with respect to anthropometric variables at start except intervention group had
more body mass index (BMI) (28.024 ± 3.561). A significant change was observed in body weight (p=0.001), BMI
(p=0.001), waist circumference (p=0.001), hip circumference (p=0.01), waist hip ratio (p=0.04) in an intervention
group while control group only showed significant reduction in waist circumference (p=0.041). Intervention
group showed significant improvement in dietary behavior which was depicted by increased intake of fruit and
fiber consumption (p=0.001), reduction in consumption of simple carbohydrates (p=0.001), animal protein
(p=0.001) and fatty food (p=0.001). Control group showed decrease in waist circumference in response to
reduction in dietary fat intake and increase intake of fruits (p=0.001) and vegetables (p=0.042).
Conclusion: The results of our study have positively demonstrated that nutritional intervention among obese
females was successful in reducing weight and BMI. Reduction inwaist and hip circumference and change in diet
behavior were also observed as secondary outcome variable.