Water Intake For Weight ReductionAn Online Randomised Controlled Trial
Amanda Burls1, Amy Price2
1City University, 2University of Oxford
Introduction
Could drinking extra water helpus lose weight? Epidemiologicaldata indicates water drinkers havea 9% (194 kcal/d) lower caloricintake than non-water drinkers.This reduction favors older peoplewho are more likely to be onprescription medications. If waterworks to establish weight controlthis is problematic for trials thatuse water as an inactive control.
ObjectivesTo run a self-recruited fully onlinerandomized trial to investigateif drinking water preventsweight-gain.
To explore participant engagementand barriers, add to onlinetrials methodology and to offerinteractive just in time publicresearch training.
Want to work with us? email:[email protected] or visithttp://ithinkwell.org
InterventionAll Participant arms will drinkwater for 180 days.
1. 8 8oz glasses of water a day(2L) 2 on waking and 2 beforeeach of 3 meals
2. 4 8oz glasses of water a day(1L) 1 on waking and 1 beforeeach of three meals
3. 2 8oz glasses of water a day(500ml) 1 each before 2 mealsof participant choice
4. 1/2 a glass of water on waking(120m)
MethodsParticipants will be self-recruitedonline. The randomized controlledtrial will be pragmatic and parallelwith 4 arms.
Materials● Validated VAS hunger scale● VAS Headache scale● Mood scale (happy, neutral,
sad)● Embedded Online BMI
Calculator● Printable online forms to
record extra water intake,headache and hunger levels
● Personal weight scale● PROMIS®
Compliance is desirable, althoughdieting may be behavior based.Attrition is explored throughparticipatory research methods.
Activities
Participants enter daily-allottedextra water consumption. Theyrecord headaches and hungerafter meals. At study completion,participants will repeat thePROMIS assessment, record theirweight, BMI, and upload theirdata.
Study AnalysisQuantitative methods will be webbased, plus we use qualitative andembedded methods, particpantswill contribute to qualitativeanalysis. Embedded researchwill be a collaborative project withZooniverse and Oxford InternetInstitute.
ReferencesPrice A Burls A, Spurden D,Hailey L, Roberts N. WaterIntake for Weight Reduction: ASystematic Review. PROSPERO2013: # CRD42013004998
