The Effect of a Lifestyle Modification Education on Adiposity Measures in Overweight and Obese Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Patients

Abstract

Background: Obesity is increasingly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and weight loss through a combination of dietary modifications and increased physical activity is a primary goal of therapy in this disease. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a lifestyle modification education on adiposity measures, physical activity, and total calorie intake in overweight and obese NAFLD patients.

Methods: During 8 weeks, 82 obese patients were randomly assigned into either an intervention group (n = 41) receiving a lifestyle modification education or to a control group (n = 41) receiving usual care. Total calorie intake, physical activity, and body composition indices were measured before and after the intervention.

Results: Thirty‑six patients in intervention group and 33 in control group completed the study. The analysis of body composition variables did not show any significant reduction for percent of body fat, abdominal circumference, waist to hip ratio, visceral fat area, age matched of body, and soft lean mass (SLM) of the trunk (P > 0.05). On the other hand, a significant reduction in weight, body mass index, mass of body fat (MBF), SLM, and MBF of the trunk was observed after 2 months of intervention compared to the controls (P < 0.05). A significant reduction was observed in total calorie intake of intervention group as compared to the control group. Physical activity status did not show any significant improvements after 2 months of intervention.

Conclusions: Our lifestyle modification education and its guidelines could be used in obese patients with NAFLD to improve their body composition measurements and to lose weight. This could result in significant long‑term benefits in NAFLD patients.

Keywords: Adiposity, lifestyle, nonalcoholic fatty liver, physical activity