Investigation of the effects of different online nutrition counseling interventions on weight control

This thesis study aimed to investigate the differences in the effectiveness of different methods of online nutritional therapy by utilizing three different methods used in the online consulting system of individuals. It included only female adults over 18 years old and older as participants. Intervention groups were formed according to the follow-up system preferred by individuals among the volunteers. Three different intervention methods were examined in the study: Motivation Group (in contact with each other via WhatsApp), Monitoring Group, and Mail Group. While individuals in all intervention groups were followed for 8 weeks, weekly meetings were held with the dietitian in the Motivation Group and the Monitoring Group. The calorie and nutrient content of the diets of all participants will be Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) for the standardization of nutrition programs. Physical activity for 165 minutes per week is added to their program. Total 102 female patients participated in this study. When the weekly weight follow-ups were examined for each group within themselves, significant weight loss was detected every week as well as BMI change. The highest weight loss was observed in the motivation group with 9.49 kg. Then the monitor group comes in with 8.02 kg and the mail group with 3.7 kg. These differences are statistically significant. Body Mass Index differences are higher at Motivational Group than other groups and this difference is statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: Participant's weekly dietitian-led interactive Web-based meeting participation, communication with each other were important predictors of weight loss in an 8-week intervention. Keywords: Online Nutrition Therapy, Tele Nutrition, Motivational Nutrition Therapy