THE EFFECT OF EDUCATIONAL AND COUNSELING INTERVENTION THROUGH SMARTPHONE APPLICATION ON THE AWARENESS OF BEHAVIORS RELATED TO SEDENTARY AND CONSUMPTION OF PREPARED FOODS AND WEIGHT GAIN IN WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE WITH HIGH BODY MASS INDEX

Overweight and obesity in women of reproductive age cause chronic diseases, fertility problems, adverse consequences of pregnancy, and mental diseases. Among the inappropriate behaviors that affect obesity are fast food consumption and growing sedentary lifestyle. This study aimed to determine the effect of educational and counseling intervention through smartphone applications on awareness of behaviors related to lifestyle and fast food consumption in the women of reproductive age with high body mass index.

In this experimental study, 106 women of reproductive age covered by comprehensive health service centers were selected by random sampling and assigned into intervention and control groups. The tools used in this research were a researcher-made questionnaire that included demographic information, a questionnaire of awareness about sedentary behaviors, and prepared foods. The educational intervention was carried out in the intervention group using the application. The control group received routine training from comprehensive health service centers. Three months after the intervention, the questionnaires were completed in both groups. Data analysis was done with SPSS ver. 20.0 software at a significance level of P<0.05

The study results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of awareness of fast food consumption (P<0.001) and sedentary behaviors (P<0.001) before and three months after the intervention among the two groups. However, there was no significant difference in weight before and three months after the intervention (P>0.05).

Educational and counseling programs with applications can be used to improve awareness about the symptoms related to sedentary and consumption of fast foods.