The team is looking for volunteers all over France. Everything is going well, she continues to lose weight.
Yesterday, she had a video conference appointment with the dietician from Bichat Hospital at the same time as 6 other people. *“I struggle to eat starchy foods and I tend to prioritize vegetables and proteins.
The other participants gave me some advice, like adding one or two spoonfuls of rice to ratatouille to increase my starchy portion,”* says this 50-year-old woman from Paris. Developed by the nutrition team at Bichat Claude-Bernard Hospital, led by Dr. Boris Hansel, Obecoach has been offered to patients in the service for several months.
But the doctor insists: *“It is not a weight loss program or a miracle diet application. Its goals?
It is a semi-automated program that offers ‘missions’ related to nutrition and physical activity in the form of texts to read, videos to watch, quizzes, etc… Maryline, who is also participating in the program, particularly appreciates these meetings. *“I realize that I am hungry only when I am on the verge of feeling unwell,”* she says.
The problem is that she then binges on food. *“I have lost weight without starving myself.
Especially thanks to gentle physical activity, I am more muscular and I feel prettier,”* says Maryline. *“It has given me confidence.
I can go to a restaurant without worry because I know what I can eat there,”* adds Catherine. But while this satisfaction from the users is encouraging, it is not a guarantee of effectiveness.
*“That is why we are launching a rigorous scientific study of the Obecoach program,”* says Dr. Boris Hansel. If the program’s effectiveness is proven, Dr. Hansel wants to deploy it on a large scale and request reimbursement from the health insurance.
*“Obecoach is not intended to be an alternative to multidisciplinary care, which is the gold standard.”* But it is difficult to offer it to all patients, *“when we know that potentially nearly 30% of adults would benefit from support. Obecoach could therefore be an additional tool”*.