TOPLINE:

A fully remote culinary medicine intervention combining health and cooking coaching achieved sustained weight loss at 12 months in adults with overweight and obesity. The intervention also led to significant fat mass loss at 6 months without changes in lean body mass.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial at two hospitals between May 2019 and September 2022 to evaluate the 1-year impact of a combined culinary and health coaching intervention on weight loss in people with overweight and stage I obesity.
• They recruited 50 adults (mean age, 47.5 years; 70% female; mean BMI, 30.7; mean total fat mass, 40.37%) who cooked fewer than five home meals per week.
• All participants received two nutrition sessions focusing on the Mediterranean diet. They were randomly assigned either to a culinary coaching program that included 12 weekly, one-on-one, 30-minute tele-sessions integrating culinary training with health coaching principles and access to culinary medicine resources (intervention group) or were given access to culinary medicine resources only (control group).
• Body weight and height were measured by a registered dietitian, body composition was assessed using DEXA, dietary intake was calculated on the basis of 4-day food records reviewed by a registered dietitian, diet quality was assessed using a 14-item Mediterranean diet assessment tool, and culinary attitudes and self-efficacy were evaluated using a validated questionnaire.
• The primary outcome was changes in body weight at 6 months, and secondary outcomes included changes in dietary intake and clinical outcomes. Outcomes were measured at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months in the hospital clinical research center.

TAKEAWAY:

• Participants in the intervention group achieved significantly greater mean weight loss than those in the control group at 3 months (-3.23% vs -0.71%; between-group difference, -2.52; P = .016), at 6 months (mean, -4.2% vs -1.22%; between-group difference, -2.98; P = .027), and at 12 months (-4.02% vs weight gain of 0.28%; between-group difference, -4.30; P = .021).
• At 6 months, the intervention group had greater improvements in body composition, with an average fat mass loss of 1.86% rather than a fat mass gain of 0.11% in the control group (between-group difference, 1.96; P = .039), without significant changes in lean body mass.
• At 3 months, Mediterranean diet assessment tool scores improved by 2 points vs 0.38 points in the intervention group vs the control group, with a net difference of 1.62 points between groups (P = .020), and at 6 months, calorie consumption decreased by 452 calories vs 62.4 calories in the intervention group vs the control group, with a net difference of 390 calories between groups (P = .015).
• Self-efficacy in cooking techniques and meal preparation improved significantly in the intervention group vs the control group at 12 months (P = .040). No serious adverse events were reported.

IN PRACTICE:

“This study is an important step in considering CM [culinary medicine] interventions as an effective patient-centered nutrition strategy for weight loss,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

The study, led by Rani Polak, Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, was published online in Obesity.

LIMITATIONS:

The study has several limitations, mostly related to the COVID pandemic. The trial experienced high dropout after the first visit, introducing potential attrition bias. Some visits were conducted remotely, requiring the self-measurement of body weight and precluding the collection of body composition and other clinical outcomes. COVID restrictions may have affected people’s ability to cook at home.

DISCLOSURES:

The study received funding from the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. One author disclosed receiving royalties from a home cooking book and an honorarium from Wellcoaches.

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