BrainWeighve Weight Loss App

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES · Sep 1, 2022

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The BrainWeighve Weight Loss App study is designed to help teenagers aged 14 to 18 who are struggling with obesity. The trial aims to create a smartphone app that encourages healthier eating habits and reduces addictive behaviors related to food, based on a theory that promotes learning healthier coping strategies. This study is particularly important as childhood obesity can lead to serious health issues later in life. To participate, teens must have a BMI (body mass index) at or above the 95th percentile for their age and gender, be motivated to change their eating habits, and have access to an iPhone.

Participants in this study will go through two stages: first, they will help test the app for three weeks, providing feedback to improve its design. Then, in the trial stage, around 30 teens will use the app for four months, with check-ins to see how well it helps them with weight loss and healthier eating. Throughout the study, researchers will gather information on how much the teens engage with the app and whether it helps them achieve their weight loss goals. This innovative approach could lead to valuable insights that help other young people facing similar challenges.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • 1. 14-18 years old
• • 2. Has an iPhone or are willing to use a study iPhone
• • 3. Ability to read and speak English
• • 4. Endorsement of one of the three items listed below on the five-item S-weight questionnaire indicating motivation for change During the last year I haven't done anything to lose weight but I'm planning to do something over the next 30 days.
• • I've been making an effort to lose weight (by dieting1 and/or exercising2) for less than 6 months.
• • I've been making an effort to maintain my weight (by dieting1 and/or exercising2) for more than 6 months.
• • 5. A score of ≥17 on the Goals and Attitudes section of the Weight Management Program Diet Readiness Questionnaire (see Measures section for more detail)
• • 6. Body mass index \[BMI\] ≥95th percentile for age and gender
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Any psychiatric condition and/or developmental delay which would require immediate or ongoing treatment that would make study participation difficult or harmful
• • 2. Use of weight altering medications (e.g., topiramate, phentermine, metformin, GLP-1 agonist)
• • 3. Parent/guardian-reported physical, mental of other inability to provide consent or refusal to provide consent for minor children
• • 4. Self-reported diagnosis of Prader-Willi Syndrome, brain tumor, hypothalamic obesity, or other diagnosis associated with obesity
• • 5. Concurrent participation in an alternative weight loss intervention
• • 6. Participation in the study team's previous app weight loss studies (exclusion for trial but not beta testing participants)