Browse the evidence

A 6-month telephone-based lifestyle behavioral intervention significantly reduces pain intensity and disability in overweight or obese patients with chronic low back pain compared to usual care.

If you have chronic back pain and are overweight, a structured phone coaching program focusing on diet, activity, and behavior change may help reduce your pain. This approach removes the barrier of traveling to clinics by delivering support directly to your phone over six months.

Implementing evidence-based lifestyle interventions can successfully improve dietary and physical activity habits in the population, similar to the success seen in tobacco cessation.

While individual change is hard, population-level success is possible. Support and participate in community and policy-level initiatives that promote healthy eating and physical activity, as these have been shown to work.

A tailored behavioral weight-loss intervention incorporating group/individual counseling and moderate-intensity aerobic exercise significantly reduces body weight in adults with serious mental illness over 18 months.

If you have a serious mental illness and are overweight, a structured program combining diet counseling, exercise, and support can help you lose weight over 18 months. The program is tailored to your needs, using simple steps and repeated practice to help you succeed despite cognitive challenges or medication side effects.

A comprehensive lifestyle intervention (diet, physical activity, behavioral counseling) induces clinically significant weight loss (≥5%) and maintains it in over 45% of overweight/obese individuals with type 2 diabetes at 4 years.

To lose and keep off weight with type 2 diabetes, you need a structured plan that includes a calorie-controlled diet (using meal replacements can help initially), at least 175 minutes of moderate exercise per week, and regular check-ins with a counselor or healthcare provider. Consistency in attending these sessions and tracking your food and activity is the strongest predictor of long-term success.

Internet-based interventions significantly improve diet, physical activity, adiposity, tobacco cessation, and reduce excess alcohol use in healthy adults.

Use internet or mobile apps to track your diet, exercise, or smoking habits. Look for programs that offer personalized feedback and goal-setting. These digital tools are proven to help improve health behaviors, often matching or beating traditional counseling.

Intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) designed to induce weight loss significantly reduces the incidence of mild or greater depression symptoms in overweight/obese individuals with type 2 diabetes compared to diabetes support and education (DSE).

For individuals with type 2 diabetes, a structured lifestyle program focusing on modest weight loss (7%+) and regular moderate exercise, supported by behavioral counseling, can significantly lower the risk of developing depression compared to standard diabetes education alone. This suggests that the psychological benefits of structured health management may outweigh the stress of dietary restriction.

A telemedical lifestyle intervention combining individualized endurance/strength exercise and energy-density-based nutritional counseling improves HbA1c, physical activity, and health literacy in patients with chronic ischaemic heart disease and type 2 diabetes compared to usual care.

For patients with both heart disease and diabetes, standard care may not be enough. This protocol suggests using a structured app-based program that combines personalized exercise (both cardio and strength) with dietary advice focused on food density (choosing foods that fill you up with fewer calories). Regular check-ins via phone and app help keep patients motivated and on track for at least 6 months.

A multi-component digital health intervention (phone consultations, pedometers, and a smart app) combined with behavior change techniques effectively promotes physical activity and healthy diet in overweight/obese adults with type 2 diabetes compared to usual care.

If you have type 2 diabetes and are overweight, standard advice might not be enough. This study tests a program that uses phone calls, a pedometer, and a smartphone app to help you move more and eat better. It works by setting specific goals, identifying barriers, and getting support from health coaches and peers. To try this, you need to be willing to use a smartphone and commit to regular check-ins.

A high-intensity, lifestyle-based obesity treatment program delivered in primary care clinics by embedded health coaches results in clinically significant weight loss (approx. 5%) over 24 months in underserved, low-income populations.

To lose weight effectively, especially if you are in a low-income or underserved area, you need more than just advice from your doctor. This program works by providing you with a dedicated health coach who meets with you weekly for the first six months and then monthly for the next 18 months. They help you set personal goals, provide you with meal-replacement shakes and portion-controlled foods for the first month, and teach you how to manage your diet and physical activity (aiming for 175 minutes of activity per week). You also get an electronic scale to track your weight daily, which helps your coach adjust your plan. This high-intensity support leads to significant, sustained weight loss over two years.

Referral to a commercial weight loss program (Weight Watchers) for 12 months yields significantly greater weight loss than a 12-week referral, with the difference attributed to the extended duration of intervention rather than intensity.

If you are overweight, a one-year commercial weight loss program (like Weight Watchers) is likely to help you lose more weight than a three-month program, because the extended support helps you maintain the changes. The key is sticking with the weekly meetings for the full year.

Dehydration decreases exercise performance, so athletes should consume adequate fluids before, during, and after exercise to prevent dehydration and maintain performance.

Stay hydrated by drinking fluids before, during, and after exercise. After exercise, drink 16-24 ounces of fluid for every pound of body weight you lost during the activity. Don't overdrink; follow your sweat rate to avoid hyponatremia.

Postoperative rehabilitation after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) should be structured into a prehabilitation phase and three criterion-based postoperative phases (impairment-based, sport-specific, return to play) lasting 9–12 months, guided by objective strength, hop, and movement quality tests rather than time-based protocols.

Do not rely on time alone to decide when you can return to sport after ACL surgery. Your rehab should last 9-12 months and be divided into phases. You only move to the next phase (like sport-specific training) when you pass specific tests for strength, hopping ability, and movement quality, not just when you feel ready. This objective approach helps ensure you actually return to your pre-injury level and reduces the risk of tearing the ligament again.

Combined behavioral interventions targeting both diet and physical activity produce small but statistically significant improvements in long-term weight loss maintenance compared to control conditions.

To maintain weight loss, you cannot rely on initial effort alone. You must engage in ongoing behavioral strategies that combine dietary management and physical activity. Simple diet or exercise alone is not enough for long-term maintenance; a comprehensive behavioral approach is required.

Remote behavioral weight-loss interventions (telephone, web, email) achieve clinically significant weight loss (mean -4.6 kg) comparable to in-person support (-5.1 kg) over 24 months in primary care settings.

You can lose significant weight using remote tools (phone, web, email) without needing to attend in-person group sessions. The study showed that a remote program resulted in nearly the same weight loss (-4.6 kg) as an in-person program (-5.1 kg) over two years. To succeed, you must log in weekly, use the provided tracking tools, and respond to automated reminders.

A brief, opportunistic physician intervention (30 seconds) that includes referral to a behavioral weight loss program, ensuring an appointment is made, and offering follow-up, results in significantly greater weight loss compared to advice alone in obese primary care patients.

If you are obese, ask your doctor for a referral to a free, NHS-funded behavioral weight loss program. If they don't offer it, request one. Ensure you get an appointment booked. This structured support leads to significantly more weight loss than just being told to lose weight.

A home-based strength and balance retraining exercise program significantly reduces the rate of subsequent falls in community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥70) who have already experienced a fall, compared to usual geriatric care.

If you are over 70 and have fallen recently, ask your doctor about the Otago Exercise Program. It is a home-based routine of strength and balance exercises that you do 3 times a week, guided by a physical therapist. This specific program has been proven to significantly reduce the number of falls you might experience in the next year compared to standard medical care alone.

A 12-week semiautomated telecoaching intervention using a step counter and smartphone application significantly increases daily physical activity (steps and moderate intensity time) in patients with COPD compared to usual care.

If you have COPD, using a step counter and a smartphone app that sets and adjusts your daily step goals automatically can significantly increase your physical activity. This program works by providing feedback and coaching, helping you stay active even if you have severe symptoms. It is effective across different disease severities and can be used alongside your usual medical care.

Implementing a structured, EHR-driven care process (PATHWEIGH) in primary care mitigates population-level weight gain and increases the likelihood of patients receiving weight-related care, even among those who do not receive direct clinical intervention.

If you are a healthcare system, stop waiting for patients to ask for help. Use your electronic health records to flag patients with high BMI and prompt doctors to discuss weight. Educate your staff that obesity is a chronic disease, not a lifestyle failure. This simple process change can help patients lose weight even if they never see a specialist.

A 12-week smartphone app intervention promoting overall healthy eating habits (focusing on food patterns rather than specific nutrients) improves dietary intake and clinical markers in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Use a dedicated health app for 12 weeks that guides you through one healthy eating topic per week (like vegetables or sugar). The app provides daily reminders and feedback. This structured, behavior-focused approach is designed to help you build sustainable healthy habits without needing to count specific nutrients.

A phone-based intervention using Motivational Interviewing (MI) principles delivered by a trained nurse significantly improves adherence to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy in patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) compared to usual care alone.

If you have sleep apnea and are struggling to use your CPAP machine, standard instructions might not be enough. This study suggests that talking with a nurse who uses Motivational Interviewing techniques—focusing on your reasons for wanting to get better and building your confidence—can help you stick with the therapy longer. The key is personalized support: if you are struggling early on, you get more frequent check-ins to help you overcome barriers.

Intensive health guidance using Internet of Things (IoT) devices providing real-time feedback from healthcare professionals improves glucose control (HbA1c) in type 2 diabetes outpatients compared to conventional self-management without feedback.

This paper describes a protocol for a digital health intervention. It suggests that using connected devices (scales, BP monitors, activity trackers) that transmit data to a doctor or health coach, who then provides monthly feedback, is a method being tested to improve blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes. The results of this specific study are not yet published.

Older adults (median age > 58.8 years) derive significantly greater improvements in physical functioning from intensive lifestyle interventions than younger adults with Type 2 Diabetes.

If you are over 60 with Type 2 Diabetes, an intensive lifestyle program is particularly powerful for you. You are likely to see bigger improvements in your daily physical function (mobility, independence) than younger patients because you start with more room for improvement. Don't let age discourage you; it may be your greatest asset for seeing functional gains.

Moderate alcohol consumption (≤1 drink/day for women, ≤2 drinks/day for men) is acceptable for adults with diabetes, but requires education on the risk of delayed hypoglycemia, especially for those on insulin or secretagogues.

If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation (1 drink/day for women, 2 for men). Be aware that alcohol can cause delayed low blood sugar, especially if you take insulin or certain diabetes medications. Know the signs of hypoglycemia and manage it appropriately.

Multifactorial e- and mHealth interventions are an effective and scalable approach for modifying lifestyle-related cardiometabolic risk factors and improving self-management behaviors in adults without cardiovascular disease, potentially offering a scalable alternative to costly face-to-face interventions.

If you are at risk for heart disease but don't have it yet, using a digital health app or website that tracks multiple factors (like blood pressure, diet, and activity) is a viable way to manage your health. This approach can be as personalized as seeing a doctor in person but is easier to access for many people. Look for programs that target more than just one issue, like both diet and exercise, as this is more effective for preventing heart disease.