TOPLINE

Women with obesity who completed a 3-month supervised physical activity (PA) program showed significant improvements in self-esteem, body appreciation, and reduced body dissatisfaction. Most psychological gains occurred within the first month, and these were largely maintained 3 months after program completion, regardless of whether the intervention was delivered face-to-face or digitally.

METHODOLOGY

• Two independent prospective longitudinal observational cohort studies evaluated changes during participation in existing supervised PA programs for women with obesity.
• Study 1 included 63 women (mean age 44.9 years, mean BMI 40.3) who completed a face-to-face program in Rennes, France, consisting of 3-4 one-hour group sessions weekly for 12 weeks.
• Study 2 included 19 women (mean age 41.4 years, mean BMI 41.1) who completed a digital program using the KIPLIN app, comprising at least one one-hour telecoaching session per week plus gamified step-count features for 12 weeks.
• Outcome measures included global self-esteem (GSE), physical self-worth (PSW) and its four subdomains (sport competence, physical condition, physical strength, body attractiveness), body dissatisfaction, and body appreciation, assessed by questionnaires at baseline, monthly during the intervention, and at 3-month follow-up.
• Multilevel models analyzed within-person change over time, with age and BMI tested as covariates.

TAKEAWAY

• In Study 1 (face to face), participants showed significant increases from baseline to post-intervention in GSE (P <.001), PSW (P <.001), physical condition (P <.001), sport competence (P <.001), physical strength (P <.001), body attractiveness (P <.001), and body appreciation (P <.001), along with a significant decrease in body dissatisfaction (P <.001).
• In Study 2 (digital), participants showed significant increases from baseline to post-intervention in PSW (P <.05), physical condition (P <.05), body attractiveness (P <.01), and body appreciation (P <.05), along with a significant decrease in body dissatisfaction (P <.01).
• BMI declined significantly in both studies (P <.001 face-to-face; P <.01 digital), but psychological changes did not track with BMI or age — neither showed a significant interaction with time in either study — suggesting the benefits weren't simply a byproduct of weight loss.
• Across both studies, most psychological changes occurred within the first month of the program, plateaued over the remaining 2 months, and were maintained at 3-month follow-up.
• Older age was associated with lower physical self-worth, physical condition, sport competence, and physical strength in Study 1 (all P <.05); higher BMI was associated with lower physical condition scores. Age and BMI were not significant predictors of any outcome in Study 2.

IN PRACTICE

"These findings suggest that supervised PA interventions, delivered either face-to-face or digitally, may be associated with improvements in self-esteem and body image among women with obesity and that the first weeks of a supervised PA programme may represent a critical moment for these variables," wrote the authors of the study.

SOURCE

The study was led by Lisa Moyon, University of the West - Institute for Training in Physical Education and Sport of Angers, Les Ponts-de-Cé, France. It was published online on July 16 in Obesity Pillars.

LIMITATIONS

Study 2 had a limited sample size and relied on self-reported measures, warranting cautious interpretation. The dropout rate in both studies may have impacted results, although attrition analyses showed completers and non-completers were largely comparable at baseline. The within-group longitudinal design cannot rule out regression to the mean or Hawthorne-type effects. Objective measures of physical activity, fitness, strength, and body composition were not collected, and BMI was based on self-reported weight, limiting the ability to link psychological change to objectively measured physical change.

DISCLOSURES

This study was supported by the ANR within the framework of the PIA EUR DIGISPORT Project. The authors reported no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.