TANISTHA KHANDELWAL

REASERCH PROPOSAL

RESEARCH QUESTION:

Impact of counselling on the weight reduction and improvement in quality of life among university
teachers.

HYPOTHESIS:

The impact of dietary counselling on outcomes in university teachers: nutritional, weight balance
and Quality of Life.

STUDY DESIGN:

The study design is random controlled trial, i.e., true experimental research design. There will be a
controlled group where no changes will be held and other trial group where the experiments will
take place.

STAKE HOLDERS:

The target population is overweight and obese university teachers, who have an intention to control
their weight, willingness to follow the study protocol and having a physically active lifestyle.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE:

The sampling technique will be non-probability sample methods and purposive sampling. The target
population will be divided into two groups i.e., controlled group where counselling and tools will be
provided, and trial group where no counselling only tools will be provided.

SAMPLE SIZE:

Total number of participants will be 20 members and each group will have 10 members and male
and female will be same ratio as university male and female staff for equal representation in both
groups.

PARAMETERTS:

Includes weight, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), 24-hour recall, sleep cycle, work
pressure, daily mobility parameter (exercises, yoga, running, walking, etc)

TOOLS:

Weighing scale, stadiometer, tape measure, anthropometer, etc.

TECHNIQUES:

All participants will be given a goal of achieving a 6% weight loss of their total weight over a 6
months period. This will be based on a goal of 1% weight loss per month. The participants will be
instructed to maintain their usual physical activity throughout the study. A nutritionally balanced,
low-calorie diet consisting of approximately 1200-1500 kcal/d for women and 1500 to 1800 kcal/d
for men, with approximately 55% of calories from carbohydrate, 30% from fat, and 15% from
protein. The controlled group will be provided with counselling on healthy diets and workout,
balanced food diets, food group pyramid, snacking options for sedentary lifestyles, ways to perform
healthy dieting behaviour, attitude toward healthy dieting behaviour. The counselling will be held
every month for 1 hr. A control handbook will be provided to all participants for self-study. The
handbook is comprising of four parts:

(1) an informational section which deals with healthy diet, principles of calorie intake, food groups,
portion size, and exercise,

(2) a patient profile to record personal parameters; weight (kg), height (m), waist circumference
(inches), and BMI (kg/m2)

(3) a daily food record for patients to record their daily meals and

(4) a daily exercise record for themselves.

Two handbooks will be provided one will be for pre-testing and other for post-testing i.e., after the
study is done and data collection will be conducted.

COUNSELLING INTERVENTION:

For the counselling, developed an intervention based on the 5As framework of obesity management
which covers recommendations on how to discuss weight with the patient (ASK), assess obesity
related risks and causes of weight gain (ASSESS), advise on treatment options (ADVISE), agree on
weight loss expectations and treatment plan (AGREE) and assist the patient in the ongoing process of
losing weight (ASISST). The 5As framework has the potential to improve weight management
counselling to achieve agreement on weight management goals and strategies. A key principle of the
5As framework is to measure the success of weight management in improvements in overall health
and well-being rather than in the amount of weight loss.
DATA COLLECTION PLAN:

The handbook will be the data source. Pre-test and post-test handbook data will show the difference
between the controlled group and trial group and post effects of counselling on controlled group.
The handbook contains questionnaire and survey which are closed ended questions.

GANTT CHART:

GANNT CHART
SR. NO. ACTIVITY SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH
Preparation
1 for research
proposal
Conducting
2 the research
proposal

Data
3
collection
Data
4
analysis
5 Report
Submission
6
of reasearch

DATA PRESENTATION PLAN:

Data will be presented in a excel tabular form. Two excel tabular will be formed for pre-test and
post-test.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS PLAN:

Inferential test can be used to compare the average performance of two groups on a single measure
to see if there is a difference. Statistical Analysis can be done via bar charts and pie charts of both
pre-test and post-test.