Application of mobile software "LINE" and telephone counseling on weight control in Taiwan

The prevalence of overweight/obesity is 43.3% among adults in Taiwan (from the preliminary data in 2013-2014). People communicate through mobile phones, social networking webs. The communication Apps, such as SMS, Skype, LINE, WeChat are extremely popular among people. The purpose of this study is to compare the applications of communication Apps, LINE and telephone counseling on weight control in Taiwan. “Line” app were applied. Two toll-free phone lines and 2 free “LINE” communications from 09:00 am - 09:00 pm, MON to SAT were set up to provide instant services on calorie calculation and counseling from 1/1 to 12/31,2014. The counseling team consisted of obesity specialists, dietitians, physical therapists, and behavioral scientists. Chi-square test was applied to analyze the frequency and distribution of the outcome. In the counseling group, a total of 2,817 people used telephone counseling for 5,323 times. Forty percent of the subjects had a BMI≧27kg / m², and 53.2% of the subjects were living in the northern part of Taiwan. In the “LINE” group, a total of 5,130 people used “LINE”, 85% were women. There were 15,517 food pictures uploaded to our center for caloric calculation. only 22% had a BMI≧27kg / m². About 40% LINE users uploaded pictures of food before eating for self weight control. Females were likely to use telephone counseling and communication Apps “LINE” to ask weight-control related questions. Those who used LINE as the counseling tool had a less BMI than those who used telephone counseling.