Research

Adherence

A remotely-delivered behavioral health coaching intervention using self-monitoring tools (weight, calories, exercise) and weekly phone counseling significantly improves adherence to Institute of Medicine (IOM) gestational weight gain guidelines compared to standard health education alone.

To manage weight gain during pregnancy, use a free app to track your weight weekly, daily calories, and exercise minutes. Engage in weekly phone coaching sessions with a health coach who helps you set goals and review your tracking data. This behavioral approach is more effective than standard health education alone for staying within recommended weight gain guidelines.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
At 37 weeks gestation, 77% of participants achieved IOM weight gain recommendations compared to 54% in the comparison group.
Janelle W. Coughlin et al. · Obesity Science & Practice · 2020

Why this rating

It is a randomized controlled trial but with a small sample size (n=26) and not powered to detect statistical significance in weight change, though the trend is clear.

Source

Feasibility and acceptability of a remotely‐delivered behavioural health coaching intervention to limit gestational weight gain

Janelle W. Coughlin et al. · Obesity Science & Practice · 2020

DOI 10.1002/osp4.438

rct · n=26Cited 24×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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