Using Computers to Modify Dietary and Exercise Habits

We will develop a computerized system for dietitians or other qualified health care professionals tdeveloping, implementing, and tracking nutrition and exercise interventions for modifying obesity anhypercholesterolemia. The computer-assisted nutrition and exercise program for professionals (CANE-Pa hand-held computer (HHC) for structuring the intervention and use as a self-monitoring tool; and bprogram (FESP) for developing the interventions, downloading instructions to the HHC, and analyzingthe HHC. The HHC will have a built-in interface that connects to the serial port of a PC for exchangFESP. This Phase I project will include development of a first generation prototype system and a 10-with 40 obese and hypercholesterolemic subjects. Subjects will be randomly assigned to one of two gr2) standard dietary treatment control. Data on weight loss, cholesterol reduction, compliance with tof satisfaction and usability will be collected. Criteria for feasibility will be statistically signLDL cholesterol across the 10-week trial among the CANE-P group, and comparisons with the control grvariables such as time and effort expended by professionals and clients. Feedback from subjects andperformance and utility of the product will be used to guide further product development. In Phase Iprototype will be developed and evaluated in a large-scale clinical trial.