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Monday, July 20th 2009 @ 4:17 PM
I read about a very interesting study today, which had me nodding in agreement, and with a big smile on my face! It seems that my theory and idea of writing a daily e-mail program to support people in changing dietary and lifestyle habits has proved to be 100% correct!
Of course, I am delighted, but more so, because there'll be many more people now more inclined to try this sort of wonderful support, encouragement, and of course sound teaching and education! Daily e-mails delivered to your inbox is a great way to learn (or continue), to live a healthy, happy and vibrant life!
The study in question, was set up to assess the effectiveness of an e-mail intervention programme, conducted in a large workforce in the US. The study showed clearly that employees showed lasting improvement in areas of their health and lifestyle, after receiving daily "reminders" via e-mail. They learned how to effectively tackle a specific area of their diets or lifestyle - whether that be a desire to eat more fruits and vegetables, to reduce fat, or to exericse more regularly.
This investigation was conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, and is currently detailed in the latest issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The research was conducted on 787 Kaiser Permanente Northern California employees, via a randomized controlled trial of the ALIVE (A Lifestyle Intervention Via E-mail) program.
During the experiments, 351 employees were unknowingly assigned to the study group, whereas the remaining 436 were randomized into a control group. The people in the control group received only an email at the beginning of the study, containing the results and scores of a lifestyle questionnaire. The questionnaires were aimed at determining whether their reported levels of physical exercise or their diets met national standards or not.
The people in the study group, on the other hand, received weekly emails in their inboxes, containing little tips on how to improve their health, and on how to eat more healthily. The experts suggested small, practical, individually tailored goals, including walking for ten minutes during the lunch break, strolling to the store rather than driving, eating more fruits or vegetables, and so on. The emails were non-intrusive, and “custom-made” for each of the participants.
The results of the study revealed no change in the health condition of the control group. Those in the study group however, exercised more frequently, consumed more vegetables and fruits, and were in a better overall state of health. The effects of the intervention lasted for several months, as a follow-up test showed.
“The takeaway message here for people who want to improve their diet and physical activity, and for employers who want a healthier workforce, is that e-mail intervention programs are a very cost-effective way to improve health and productivity. A tailored e-mail program includes all the things that behavioral scientists have said for years about changing behavior: small goals tailored for the individual, reinforcement, and tracking but delivered in a mass, cost-effective way,” Kaiser Permanente Division of Research senior research scientist Barbara Sternfeld, PhD, who has also been the lead investigator of the new study, explained.
“Using e-mail to get people active is a great use of existing technology that is cheap and readily available. Anything we can do to increase activity level is going to improve health because we know that exercise is medicine. It's medicine you can take to live a longer and healthier life,” the former President of the American College of Sports Medicine, Bob Sallis, MD, who is also a Kaiser Permanente family physician, concluded.
