Health And Wellness Coaching Improves Body Composition With No Diet Prescription Even After Covid-19 Quarantine

Global obesity rates have reached epidemic proportions. However, it is estimated that 95% of the dieters find difficulty in maintaining weight loss and return to gain it for up to 2 years. The desire for long lasting behavioral and weight changes motivated health professionals to seek for new approaches to stop the obesity growing rates. Health and wellness coaching (HWC) came up as a behavioral change approach, based on a client-centered process, without a diet prescription, and seems to be more likely to promote long lasting changes. The subject of this case report had previously tried different diets, all of which failed to achieve lasting weight loss. PURPOSE: the aim of this case report is to present HWC in promoting sustainable body composition changes along 2,5 years. METHODS: body mass, fat mass and fat free mass were assessed at baseline (P1), after 12 weeks of HWC (P2), after 6 months of the end of the intervention (P3), after 12 months of the end of the intervention (P4) and after 24 months of the end of the intervention (P5). The period between P4 and P5 corresponded to 3 months of regular follow-up +9 months of quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the intervention period, 12 HWC sessions were completed, which were held weekly (1 hour each) + 36 Physical Activity sessions (1 hour each, 3 times a week). No diet was prescribed during the whole process. Data was collected at the School of Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo. RESULTS: Relative to P1, HWC sessions were associated in P5 with reductions in body weight (-9.71 kg), fat mass (-13,99 kg) and BMI [from 31.27 (P1) to 28.1 kg/m2 (P5)]. From P1 to P5, a gain of fat free mass were also observed (+4,28 kg). CONCLUSIONS: combined with an exercise program, HWC was effective in promoting positive changes in body composition that were still observed 2,5 years after the end of the intervention, even going through 9 months of social isolation and quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.