Developing a Weight Management Class as a Recruitment Tool for an Online Weight Loss Program to Rural Illinois Residents

Weight-loss

The purpose of this study is to identify how to maintain a sustainable collaboration Illinois
 Extension Nutrition and Wellness Educators while continuing to offer an online weight-loss
 program, EMPOWER, to rural Illinois residents.
 
 - The primary aim of the study is to determine if an Extension-delivered introductory
 weight management class will be successful in recruiting rural individuals interested in
 losing weight to the EMPOWER weight-loss program.
 
 - The secondary aim is to enroll interested rural participants in an online weight loss
 intervention that focuses on promoting dietary and lifestyle behavioral changes to
 achieve ≥5 percent weight loss.
 
 Participants who participate in the EMPOWER weight-loss intervention will:
 
 1. Complete 12 online educational sessions over a 3-month period followed by a 9-month
 follow-up period.
 
 2. Participate in daily self-weighing using a provided WiFi-enabled scale.
 
 3. Will have a monthly nutrition coaching call once per month for the 12-month duration of
 the study.
 
 4. Will complete food records and self-report waist and hip circumference measures at
 baseline, 3-months, and 12-months.