Application 9502
Assessing whether individual feedback results in improved health outcomes, with a focus on BMI feedback.
Research Question: Does informing people that they are overweight
based on their Body Mass Index (BMI) result in individuals improving their health? Does feedback of other health indicators have any effects on individuals?
Outcomes: Weight, BMI, general health.
Unhealthy weight in adults is a growing problem in the UK, with the
Chief Medical Officer recently stating that the problem is in part due to individuals
not recognising that they are overweight. Policy to tackle unhealthy weight in
adults ranges from providing expensive surgery to general public health
information campaigns that are deemed by researchers to be ineffective; the
identification of cost effective interventions to reduce the proportion of people with
unhealthy weight is an urgent issue. The results will have
implications for the efficacy of individualised health feedback as a cost effective
means of delivering public health goals. I will use statistical methods to analyse whether the participant feedback provided is
causally related to improved individual health indicators and whether any such
effects are determined by an individuals? personal characteristics. Full Cohort and the repeat assessment data.
Lead investigator: | Dr William Cook |
Lead institution: | Manchester Metropolitan University |