Running head: LIVING A HEALTHY LIFE

Living a Healthier Life

Kayla Young

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke

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Abstract

Healthy life choices as a young adult may reduce health complications later in life.

Understanding at a young age how to properly take care of your body and how to maintain

healthy body weight is very important. On the journey to a healthy start it may take the support

of more than just the individual, understanding that you have family and friends to help with

your process is also a great way to start healthy living. Being socially supported is a big factor.

Eating healthy comes with many sacrifices and planning.

Keywords: healthy, diet, obesity, sacrifices

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Living a Healthier Life

Obesity within young adults is a growing concern in many parts of the world today.

“Young adults are at particularly high risk for unhealthy, unwanted weight gain 1,2 and such

gain can increase obesity risk in later adulthood” (Colby, Zhou, et al., 2017). Understanding the

hinderance of an unhealthy lifestyle at a young age will allow an individual to live a healthier life

than most individuals who are not informed of the risks of unhealthy eating. Almost 30% of

college students are reported to be obese (American College Health Association, 2011). With the

percentage of college obesity looking for continuous increase, the perfect question arises. Would

motivational interviewing be a success in the weight loss of undergraduate students? Amongst

this question brings many solutions to help correlate college students and obesity and the factors

of obesity amongst these college students. There are multiple health concerns when referencing

an unhealthy diet. Concerns such as heart diseases and blood pressure are two main concerns of

an unhealthy diet. “…a low-fat diet reduced your risk for heart disease and possible stroke” (food

health connection, 2008). Eating healthy and understanding the risk associated with a bad eating

habit is very important and essential when trying to live a healthy life. The scope of obesity is

chronic health issues and diseases. Obesity is known to lead to issues such as diabetes, heart

diseases and problems with one’s blood pressure. When in search of healthy weight gain as well

as a healthy lifestyle, it has been discussed that one’s family is a great way to positively turn a

life around. People in search of a healthier lifestyle should be socially supported, for them to

increase their physical activities and eating habits. The way a person eats has a major impact on

the health of an individual. While trying to eat healthier and maintaining the healthy lifestyle,

one must plan and execute their plan of their water intake and watching what they eat. Eating
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healthy may reduce the chances of future sicknesses and diseases, such as heart diseases and

diabetes.

Throughout this study I will be evaluating the factors that may lead to obesity amongst

college students, as well as the parts of a healthy lifestyle and how an individual could prevent

obesity. Along with the study of obesity and weight loss there have been many interventions

present, such as, group therapy interventions, behavioral interventions and motivational

interviewing interventions (Handcastle, 2013). These interventions have had an impact on weight

loss throughout the years.

Group Therapy as an Intervention

Group therapy intervention is a well-known effective intervention for weigh loss because

it brings together a group of individuals with a similar issue and allows other group members as

well as the social worker and/or individual in to charge to help those in need. Group therapy

brings those ones together of a similar issue and helps them build bonds and trust between one

another. Being around a group of individuals with a similar issue helps motivate others to better

themselves by seeing the struggles of others.

Behavioral Intervention

“Behavioral interventions that target obesity through changes in diet and/or physical

activity have been shown to be effective in producing clinically-significant reductions in weight”

(Handcastle, 2013). Behavioral change is the consideration of the change in diet and the change

in physical activity. Behavioral intervention plays a major role in motivational interviewing

because it allows the client to recognize and accept the change they need and focus what they are

willing to put effort into. As shown in the motivational interviewing video, being able to make
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charts and allow the client self-determination on the pace they are willing to work to help move

forward is very effective. With behavioral intervention, post interventions are always effective to

follow up with the individual’s success and change. Being able to keep up with their progress

and share with future clients how things worked for others can also be apart of the motivational

aspect.

Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing is one of the most effective approaches to weight loss.

Motivational interviewing typically results in the increase in physical activity as well as the

change in diet and the individual eating healthier. Being able to effectively conduct a

motivational interview, the social worker must build a trustworthy relationship with the client.

The client is seeking help, which means the social worker must provide them with helpful

resources and motivation to push them forward. The social worker must provide encouragement

and ambivalence. Throughout the motivational interviewing process, the social worker must

listen and provide them with resources. You must also exemplify reflective listening skills as

well as summarization to inform and portray to the client that you care and that you are there to

help them. Motivational interviewing was introduced to provide support and autonomy to clients.

Self-efficacy and self-determination are provided to help the client set personal and realistic

goals for themselves. Throughout my motivational interview, with Taylor, I allowed the

opportunity for change talk and self-determination. Throughout the video with Taylor, we

developed a chart to motivate her to eat healthier. We discussed her choice in unhealthy eating,

and the client was provided with other options to help them on their journey of weight loss.

Speaking with the client, I learned that there are a various of reasons why an individual,

specifically an undergrad student may binge eat and suffer from unhealthy eating habits leading
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to obesity. Throughout research as well as talking with the client, I learned stress is a big factor

of obesity. My client mentioned to me their unhealthy eating habits comes from stress, they tend

to eat when they are stressed and as most college students, they are not partaking in healthy

snacks as their choice. The lack of sleep from stress a college student may endure is also a factor

in the weight gain of many individuals. Motivational interviewing is in place for those who need

help recognizing their issue and putting effort into receiving help.

Methodology

Throughout this study, I will focus on individuals. My plan for these individuals is to

come up with a realistic diet the individual is willing to start out following. The client will report

their progress weekly and update the social worker on their food choices for the week and the

physical activity they have encountered throughout the week as well. The client will also inform

their social worker on their weight loss bi-weekly, to continue them to push forward. The plans I

have come up with for my client is to write out a list of foods that they will be able to eat on their

diet and a list of foods they can’t eat. I will also encourage my client to meal prep. I will

encourage my client to write in a journal how they feel about their progress and general thoughts

and feelings during their journey to understand and see the progression in how they feel about

themselves and the support they are receiving. In this research project I will employ qualitative

research data. Personal interviews, observations and group discussions will be a part of this

study. The use of qualitative data will help me as well as others define the underlying factors of

obesity within college students.

Sample and Setting

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I decided to use purposeful sampling to help me determine the individuals present for the

research study. Purposeful sampling is for the researcher to know exactly what they want for

their study and going to choose participants on their own based on their judgement. I got this

specific individual to participate in the study by simply asking them catchy questions, such as

how they feel about obesity amongst college students and if they considered themselves obese.

After this series of questions, I made sure to see if the client was comfortable enough with

themselves and their personal appearance before proceeding to ask them would they like to

participate in this research. I also shared with the individual words of encouragement to

influence them to partake in the motivational interviewing part of the study, as they agreed to.

The evaluation was conducted in private, so they would be willing to build a trustworthy bond

knowing their results would remain anonymous and confidentiality would be something I

followed through with. Although it is a community-based research, all individuals that were

participants were all kept confidential and evaluations were done in private. To keep up with the

progress of individuals, this research study will be focused on longitudinal basis as well.

Independent Variable

The independent variable of this research design is motivational interviewing. The

independent variable is known as the variable that does not depend on the other variable and

does not change. Motivational interviewing is the intervention being used to test the change in

the individual, in this case weight loss. We are using motivational interviewing to test the effects

in relation to the client’s loss of weight throughout a period of time as well as to see the

progression of an individual.

Dependent Variable
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The dependent variable of this research design is weight loss. The dependent variable is

known to depend on the independent variable and is subject to change. The weight loss due to

motivational interviewing is what is being tested and is likely to fluctuate throughout the study.

Design and Procedures

For the research design presented, the design of study I have chosen to use is

experimental design. In this design, individuals will be chosen to see how effective motivational

interviewing is to those interested in weight loss, suffering from obesity during college. This

design will host some individuals who seek help and are receiving help through the intervention

of motivational interviewing and those who try to lose weight on their own. This design is used

to see how effective motivational interviewing is for the issue of weight loss. For the participants

data will be collected at the beginning of the first meeting, after the first meeting data will be

collected weekly for the progress and change in dietary habits and what the participant is

changing as far as physical activity. Data for weight loss of the participant will be submitted bi-

weekly to see the progression in weight loss due to the changes that are being recorded. The

progression charts will be collected in private, at the individuals meeting times. To see the

progression of the participant throughout a year’s span, every 6 months the data collections will

be compared to the prior 6 months. This research study includes 3 phases, such as, the baseline

phase, the intervention phase and the post intervention phase. During the baseline phase of the
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study the individual made researchers aware of their current activities such as their eating habits,

water intake, and

Baseline (Pre-Data) physical activity.

During the
15%
35% 6% Healthy Eating
intervention phase,
2%
Water Intake
the individual stated
Physcial Activity
42% Unhealthy Eating their concerns and
Juice/Soda Intake
expressed what they

were willing to

change at the

moment. The participant also made researchers aware of how they planned to work through the

intervention to meet their goals. Charts were made for everyone to follow throughout the

sessions to help motivate them that they could lose weight and they could make it. Throughout

the intervention process, progress was marked and celebrated but also encouragement was spread

for the individual to continue. As weeks went by for the study, individuals were encouraged to

push themselves harder and set higher standards for their weekly goals. Below is an example of a

starting chart for one participant.

Intake What is it What are we What are we What did I

now… working towards working accomplish this
for ending goal… towards for week…
the week…
Fast Food 5 times a week 1 time a week 3 times a 4 times a week
week
Water Intake 1 bottle a day 8 bottles a day 2-3 bottles a 2 bottles a day
day
Sugary Snacks 7 times a week 1 time a week 4-5 times a 6 times a week
week
Soda Intake 3-5 a day 1 time a week 2 a day 3 a day
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Physical Activity 1 time a week 5 days a week 2 times a 1 time

week
During the post intervention phase of the individual’s data and weight loss progression is looked

at. Also, during this phase, the participants look over all growth and state what during the

motivational interviewing process helped them the most. This phase is really used to compare the

participant at the beginning of the study to the end of the study. The results from this phase may

also help others become motivated for change.

As seen from the table created by one participant, they had a hard time sticking to what

they proposed for the week. As a social worker it is not the job of you to give up on the client,

but it is your job to provide continuous support and encouragement. It is also effective to

understand that change doesn’t happen as quickly as we always want it to, but to remember that

you move on the pace of the client.

Results

Intake What was it… What is it now… Was it

accomplished?
Fast Food 5 times a week 1 time a week Yes
Water Intake 1 bottle a day 9 bottles a day yes
Sugary Snacks 7 times a week 1 time a week Yes
Soda Intake 3-5 a day 0 a day Yes
Physical Activity 1 time a week 5 times a week yes
The results from this participant showed progression. This individual in their post phase of the

intervention, informed researchers and social workers of their weight loss. This individual in the

period of 6 months lost a total of 96 pounds, with a weigh in of 356. This individual showed that

the use of motivational interviewing for weight loss was very effective and useful for them. They

have also shared with us their excitement and the goal to continue eating healthy. This individual

also sent her journal of thoughts in for themselves and informed us on how great they felt about

themselves.
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The Assess of Change

I assessed changed by the results of many participants. Many participants reported a

significant amount of weight loss and stated that the motivational interviewing helped a lot with

their progress and growth to feel better about themselves.

Advantages and Limitations

Limitations for this research design would be that of the willingness to participate and the

effort put in by individuals who are reaching out to help. Also finding people who were

confident enough to talk about their obesity and be willing to participate in a study with obesity

being a huge issue in society today. Another limitation was also being able to find articles about

obesity within college students, for this to be a growing issue there weren’t many articles and

researches available for this concern. Advantages of this study is being able to explore the factors

of obesity and the openness of the participants.

Conclusion

The information obtained is very useful. It will allow me to help those who want to lose

weight. It will help me encourage individuals to push harder as well as showing them the

negative of an unhealthy lifestyle. This has informed my practice because it taught me the

importance and effectiveness of motivational interviewing. It has also taught me the importance

of self-determination for the client, so the study as well as the behavior change can be more

realistic. I don’t think there are any further needed studies to be involved with obesity amongst

college students. This research topic was very informative and very helpful, not only for me but

for those reading and those seeking help for weight loss.
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References

Colby, S., Zhou, W., Sowers, M. F., Shelnutt, K., Olfert, M. D., Morrell, J., … Kattelmann, K.

K. (2017). College students’ health behavior clusters: Differences by sex. American

Journal of Health Behavior, 41(4), 378–389. https://doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.41.4.2

Hardcastle S, Hagger MS: “You can’t do it on your own”: Experiences of a motivational

interviewing intervention on physical activity and dietary behaviour. Psychol Sport

Exerc. 2011, 12: 314-323. 10.1016/j.psychsport.2011.01.00

Kulik, N., Valle, C. G., & Tate, D. F. (2016). Friend and family support for weight loss in

adolescent females. Childhood Obesity, 12(1), 44–51.

https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2015.0044

The food-health connection. (2008). Healthy Eating: A Guide to the New Nutrition (2008), 23–

39. Retrieved from

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