Passive recruitment reach of a lifestyle management program to address obesity in the deep south during the COVID-19 pandemic

Jennifer L Lemacks; Laurie S Abbott; Cali Navarro; Stephanie McCoy; Tammy Greer; Sermin Aras; Michael B Madson; Jacqueline Reese-Smith; Chelsey Lawrick; June Gipson; Byron K Buck; Marcus Johnson

doi:10.3934/publichealth.2023010

Passive recruitment reach of a lifestyle management program to address obesity in the deep south during the COVID-19 pandemic

AIMS Public Health. 2023 Feb 28;10(1):116-128. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2023010. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jennifer L Lemacks^{1

2}, Laurie S Abbott³, Cali Navarro^{1

2}, Stephanie McCoy⁴, Tammy Greer^{1

5}, Sermin Aras^{1

2}, Michael B Madson⁵, Jacqueline Reese-Smith¹, Chelsey Lawrick^{2

4}, June Gipson⁶, Byron K Buck^{1

6}, Marcus Johnson^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Telenutrition Center, Mississippi INBRE Community Engagement and Training Core, The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
² School of Health Professions, College of Nursing and Health Professions, The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
³ College of Nursing, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.
⁴ School of Kinesiology and Nutrition, The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
⁵ School of Psychology, Mississippi INBRE Community Engagement and Training Core, The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
⁶ My Brother's Keeper, Inc., Mississippi INBRE Community Engagement and Training Core, Jackson, Mississippi.

Abstract

Obesity is a significant public health concern, especially in the Deep South and in Mississippi where prevalence is among the worst in the nation paired, with other poor health outcomes and socioeconomic conditions. Lifestyle management programs that address modifiable risk factors, such as nutrition and physical activity, can be effective mitigation strategies to halt weight accumulation patterns and ameliorate metabolic risk factors for some populations. However, there is limited evidence regarding the implementation of effective practice models to address obesity risk in underserved and underrepresented populations, such as African Americans, and people in the stage of earlier adulthood. Furthermore, there is growing evidence supporting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle management programs that should be considered in these populations. The purpose of this manuscript was to describe the development and telehealth implementation of a weight management program during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide a preliminary examination of recruitment strategies and baseline characteristics for enrolled participants. Passive recruitment (social media, web, email, and other media advertisements) resulted in 157 screening initiations, and 79 of those participants met the study inclusion criteria. Further, of the 79 eligible participants, 38 completed all study enrollment requirements and presented with metabolic abnormalities. The study findings add to the emerging body of evidence for how the pandemic may have impacted lifestyle management programs and is representative of an understudied and underrepresented population.

Keywords: lifestyle; minority health; nutrition; obesity; physical activity; recruitment.

Grants and funding

P20 GM103476/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States