Prevention of weight gain among overweight adults: development and evaluation of a computer-tailored self-regulation intervention

The increasing prevalence of obesity is a major public health problem because of its negative effect on health. The long-term-effects of weight loss treatment for obesity are limited and therefore, prevention of obesity is very important. This might be achieved by weight gain prevention. This is especially relevant for overweight adults; they comprise a large group and are at high risk of becoming obese if they gain weight. Therefore, prevention of weight gain among this group has been postulated as an important strategy for preventing obesity. At the start of this study there was no evidence as to whether overweight adults were motivated for weight gain prevention. The first aim of this thesis was to increase our understanding the population’s acceptance of weight gain prevention and the determinants of motivation for weight gain prevention and change in energy-balance related behaviours among overweight adults. In addition, no obesity prevention intervention that could potentially reach a large number of overweight adults existed. To be effective such an intervention should be able to reach many people in an individualised approach and support the complicated process of change in weight-related behaviours. Therefore, the second aim of this thesis was to develop and evaluate an online, computer-tailored intervention to achieve weight gain prevention among overweight adults.

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