In Case You Missed It; A Recap of SPH Research Interaction Day

The School of Public Health hosted Research Interaction Day on Friday, during which faculty and students presented their ongoing and completed research projects and scholarly works. About 150 students and faculty from the SPH and other schools around campus and community members attended the event, in addition to the 100 to 150 presenters. It was an opportunity for individuals and research groups to share their ideas and to collaborate with others.

The database where you can find all the abstracts from the event is still up and running, but the Healthy Turtle decided to track down a few of the presenters for our series called In Case you Missed It.

We asked Dr. Nancy Atkinson with Public and Community Health about what her group found through secondary analysis regarding the impact and popularity of Internet tools on healthy living. The other members of her group were Min Qi Wang, Derek L. Hansen, Morgane Cibotti and Sandra L. Saperstein. The abstract can be found here. This is what she had to say:

What interested you in researching the influence of Internet tools on healthy living and weight loss?

As Internet use has grown, people are using it for more and more health-related activities. Only now can we look at how people use the Internet for more specific health behaviors. My collaborators and I were interested to see whether their nutrition and physical activity, related knowledge, attitudes and behavior were related to Internet use for weight loss.

Do you have a theory for why people rely on Internet tools for weight loss over other sources like trainers or magazines?

The convenience of the Internet makes it easy to take the first step. This is just like when people are more likely to turn to the Internet for a health concern even though they usually trust their clinicians most. As people work through changing a behavior, they also need support that they can get from traditional sources as well as from tools the Internet now offers: recording food intake and exercise, getting social support from other dieters, etc. The Internet also provides a more anonymous and private way to seek help that may appeal to some people.

Can you suggest some Internet tools for healthy living and weight loss that you find particularly helpful?
There are many of these, and some of the decision depends on who you are, what you want to do and whether you are willing to pay for them.
* For mothers, I would recommend mealsmatter.org and eatsmart.umd.edu.
* General tools and information: WebMD Healthy Eating and Diet Center has a variety of online tools (BMI calculator, calorie and nutrition facts database, recipes, ask the expert, online communities, e-newsletters).
* The Mayo Clinic has reliable general information and Q&As with doctors.
* Weight Watchers and eDiets.com have useful sites, but they require a subscription.
* For physical activity, Map My Walk lets you plot your course and track how far you walk or run each day. Peer Trainer is another great example of a site that lets you share your progress toward exercise goals with friends and family.

Can Internet tools can be as useful and influential as human interaction, like a trainer, who can provide information and encourage accountability?
You have to use these tools for them to work. Though it seems like a no brainer, evaluations have shown that the people who used these kinds of programs were more likely to lose weight if they logged in frequently and used the diet logs. Those that link to an online community have the potential to provide interaction with others—including dieters and trainers—that will encourage accountability.

Is this study ongoing for you? What do you plan to do next?
For this particular study, I would like to assess trends in Internet use for weight loss as well as other factors related to using the Internet for health management. We believe that people who use the Internet to support diet behavior are likely to use it for a myriad of other health issues. I would like to continue this research by examining the use of personal health records for healthy living as well as chronic disease management in hopes of findings ways to promote meaningful use of these tools. In addition, we were surprised by the strong association between using the Internet for weight loss and use of complementary and alternative medicine practices and would like to explore the nature of this relationship more.