Evaluation of an Educational Strategy in Overweight and Obese Adults Attending a Family Medicine Unit

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate an educational strategy in overweight and obese adults. Methods: a quasi-experimental study carried out with a sample of thirty patients selected through a non-randomized by convenience sampling. Nine monthly theoretical-practical sessions related to the implications of overweight and obesity on health were given. Body weight, waist and hip circumference, body mass index and waist-hip index (whi) were evaluated pre- and post-intervention. The variables were analyzed by descriptive statistics using frequencies, percentages, median and ranges; the Wilcoxon test was used for inferential analysis. Results: there was a reduction in weight, waist and hip circumference, as well as bmi (p<0.05); there were no significant changes in the icc (p>0.05). Conclusions: the educational strategy had a positive impact on four of the five study variables; this type of strategy could promote changes in anthropometric measurements related to different diseases of high prevalence at the primary care level.