TY  - JOUR
AU  - van der Haar, Sandra
AU  - Hoevenaars, Femke P M
AU  - van den Brink, Willem J
AU  - van den Broek, Tim
AU  - Timmer, Mariëlle
AU  - Boorsma, André
AU  - Doets, Esmée L
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/6/24
TI  - Exploring the Potential of Personalized Dietary Advice for Health Improvement in Motivated Individuals With Premetabolic Syndrome: Pretest-Posttest Study
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e25043
VL  - 5
IS  - 6
KW  - personalized nutrition
KW  - metabolic syndrome
KW  - dietary behavior
KW  - diet
KW  - metabolic
KW  - metabolic health
KW  - dietary advice
KW  - dietary feedback
KW  - digital health
AB  - Background: Dietary quality plays an essential role in the prevention and management of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Objective: The aim of this pilot study is to organize personalized dietary advice in a real-life setting and to explore the effects on dietary intake, metabolic health, and perceived health. Methods: We followed a one-group pretest-posttest design and included 37 individuals at risk of MetS, who indicated motivation to change dietary behavior. For a period of 16 weeks, participants received personalized advice (t=0 and t=8) and feedback (t=0, t=4, t=8, t=12 and t=16) on dietary quality and metabolic health (ie, waist circumference, BMI, blood pressure, lipid profile, fasting glucose levels, and C-peptide). Personalized advice was generated in a two-stage process. In stage 1, an automated algorithm generated advice per food group, integrating data on individual dietary quality (Dutch Healthy Diet Index; total score 8-80) and metabolic health parameters. Stage 2 included a telephone consultation with a trained dietitian to define a personal dietary behavior change strategy and to discuss individual preferences. Dietary quality and metabolic health markers were assessed at t=0, t=8, and t=16. Self-perceived health was evaluated on 7-point Likert scales at t=0 and t=16. Results: At the end of the study period, dietary quality was significantly improved compared with the baseline (Dutch Healthy Diet Index +4.3; P<.001). In addition, lipid profile (triglycerides, P=.02; total cholesterol, P=.01; high-density lipoprotein, P<.001; and low-density lipoprotein, P<.001), BMI (P<.001), waist circumference (P=.01), and C-peptide (P=.01) were all significantly improved, whereas plasma glucose increased by 0.23 nmol/L (P=.04). In line with these results, self-perceived health scores were higher at t=16 weeks than at baseline (+0.67; P=.005). Conclusions: This exploratory study showed that personalized dietary advice resulted in positive effects on dietary behavior, metabolic health, and self-perceived health in motivated pre-MetS adults. The study was performed in a do-it-yourself setting, highlighting the potential of at-home health improvement through dietary changes. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04595669; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04595669 
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2021/6/e25043/
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/25043
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34185002
DO  - 10.2196/25043
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/25043
ER  -