Systematic review of electronically delivered behavioral obesity prevention interventions targeting men

Globally, obesity persists at epidemic rates. Men are underrepresented within behavior-based obesity prevention research. As men prefer individualized, self-guided interventions, electronic delivery of treatment modalities has potential to reach this population. The purpose of this study was to systematically review primary, secondary, or tertiary behavioral obesity prevention interventions that used controlled designs; targeted men; and incorporated at least one electronically delivered treatment modality explicitly designed to elicit an intervention effect. Literature searches were delimited to peer-reviewed articles; published between 2000 and 2021; in the English language; and indexed in PsycINFO, CINHAL, MEDLINE, CENTRAL, and WOS electronic databases. Interventions satisfying inclusion criteria were critiqued for methodological quality using the Jadad Scale (0 = lowest quality; 10 = highest quality). Eleven studies satisfied the inclusion criteria (n = 1748; total participants) with five reporting group-by-time intervention effects on the primary variable targeted. Jadad scale quality assessment scores ranged from 5.00 to 9.00 with a mean of 7.72. Majority of the interventions applied a randomized control trial design (n = 10). Most interventions were theory based, with eight rooted in social cognitive theory. Behavior change strategies included self-monitoring (n = 10), personalized feedback (n = 8), health counseling (n = 8), and goal setting (n = 9). Community-level theories have the potential to guide future obesity prevention interventions targeting men.