Is online self‐regulatory training effective in weight control? A pilot experiment on adolescence obesity during coronavirus‐19 lockdown

OBJECTIVE: Studies have shown that obesity is associated with decreased executive function. Impaired executive functions lead to poor self‐regulation, which in turn may result in persistence of unhealthy behaviors, including eating behaviors, throughout life. Increasing self‐regulation in childhood and adolescence has positive effects on creating healthy behaviors such as reducing unnecessary eating and changing unhealthy eating habits. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate an intervention package based on cognitive self‐regulation training in changing eating behaviors and reducing obesity in children and adolescents. METHODS: Fifty‐six students with obesity aged 12–16 years participated in the study in three groups (cognitive self‐regulation training [CSRT], diet, and control). The CSRT group received twenty 30‐min online training sessions with a diet over 10 weeks. The diet group received only a diet with no other intervention, and the control group did not receive any intervention. RESULTS: The results of our 2 × 3 repeated‐measures ANOVA showed that the CSRT group had a mean BMI decrease of 2.21 (kg/m(2)) after ten weeks, and 3.24 (kg/m(2)) at the follow‐up time. The diet group had a BMI decrease of 0.49 (kg/m(2)) at the ten weeks. In addition, the results showed that the CSRT had a significant reduction in eating behaviors such as external eating and emotional eating. However, the other two groups showed no changes in eating behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that online cognitive self‐regulation training has been effective in weight loss and eating behaviors. This study shows promising evidence for the efficacy of the online CSRT‐training as a weight stabilization intervention in children with obesity.