Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies
Date Submitted: Sep 23, 2022
Open Peer Review Period: Sep 23, 2022 - Oct 3, 2022
Date Accepted: Nov 25, 2022
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Self-Monitoring Physical Activity, Diet, and Weight among Adults Who are Legally Blind: An Exploratory Investigation
ABSTRACT
Background:
Obesity is a global pandemic. Lifestyle approaches have been shown effective for weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Central to these evidence-based approaches are increased physical activity, decreased caloric intake, and regular self-weighing, along with the tracking of these behaviors.
Objective:
This descriptive exploratory report examines accessible strategies used to track physical activity, diet, and weight among adults who are legally blind. These health behaviors are essential components to evidence-based weight loss programs.
Methods:
Participants (≥ 18 years) who self-identified as being legally blind were recruited from low vision advocacy groups. They completed a series of telephone administered surveys and an in-person visit for height and weight assessment.
Results:
The participants (N=18) had an average age of 31.2(SD=13.4) years, 50% were normal weight (BMI 18.5 to 25), 44% were female, 44% were Black, and 39% were Non-Hispanic White. Most participants (89%) used their smart phone to access the internet daily, and 67% had at least 150 mins/week of exercise. Those tracking health behaviors were using electronic notes, smart phones, and apps. Providing individuals with a talking scale was the most consistent recommendation (66%) to facilitate independence in managing weight through lifestyle changes.
Conclusions:
Greater attention is needed to ensure accessibility of weight loss programs. Further efforts are needed to provide those with low vision accessible support for lifestyle-based weight management.
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.