Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Multidisciplinary Approach to Obesity Management: A Case Report
Published on: May 30, 2025
Employee weight management through health coaching
R M Merrill1, S G Aldana, D E Bowden
1Department of Health Science, College of Health and Human Performance, Brigham Young University, 229-A Richards Building, Provo, UT 84602, USA. Ray_Merrill@byu.edu
Objective:
This study will evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive health coaching intervention at lowering weight.
Methods:
The study involved 5405 overweight or obese employees aged 18-85, who entered the program sometime during 2001-2008.
Results:
Average body mass index (BMI) significantly decreased from 32.1 at baseline to 31.4 at 3 months, 31.0 at 6 months, and 30.6 at 12 months. Decreasing BMI was more pronounced in older age groups and among women, those using weight loss medication, those with higher BMI, and those with higher motivation and confidence to make behavior changes. When the effects of these variables on the decreasing trend in BMI were simultaneously estimated, only baseline classifications of BMI, health status, and confidence remained significant. Change in BMI through 12 months was -0.7% for those with normal weight, -2.0% for overweight, -3.6% for obese, and -7.1% for morbidly obese individuals at baseline. Among morbidly obese individuals, decrease in BMI through 12 months was -7.6% for those with "high" confidence to lose weight at baseline vs -4.4% for those with low confidence. Better health status at baseline was also related to more pronounced weight loss.
Conclusion:
Interactive health coaching significantly lowered BMI among participants through 3, 6, and 12 months of follow-up.
Related Concept Videos
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques VI
Motivation and Self-Determination
Motivation, the driving force behind behavior, plays a pivotal role at every stage of the change process. The research...
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques I
Conscientiousness
Conscientious individuals tend to be organized, responsible, and disciplined. They prioritize completing tasks and following structured routines,...
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention II
The agent-host-environment model states that disease results from...
Obesity
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention I
The health belief model (HBM) attempts to predict health-related behavior in specific belief patterns. According to the HBM, a person's...
Levels of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention
In primary prevention, actions taken before disease onset prevent the disease from...
