Management of Overweight and Obesity: Technology-Based Interventions Among Generation Y

Abstract

Background: Obesity is recognized as the most widespread metabolic disease. The growing spread of modern technologies opens new perspectives in treating and caring for people suffering from obesity. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the use of modern technologies among Generation Y (age between 15 and 30) to chart the actual skills of obesity patients. Methods: The key method used in this paper is a quantitative survey research targeted on generation Y. The two groups “Y” and “non Y” are compared according to numerical and categorical variables. Possible dependences between body mass index and other numerical variables are also analyzed in pairs. Results: The two groups “Y” and “non Y” do not significantly differ in “hours of physical activities or sports per week” (p>0.33) and in the category of residence size (p>0.10) and they are significantly different in all other variables (p<0.0001). Besides the relatively higher size of sample, the relationships between BMI and three possible numerical variables are not confirmed (p>0.05). Among all respondents, most of them know some obesity-related applications and more than one third uses or used one of them in the past, but only 17.14% of respondents used these applications for active weight loss. Among Generation Y, 41.48% of respondents use an obesity-related application. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this research, the mobile applications and modern technologies should be considered as a tool with great potential for preventing obesity rather than its treatment.