Online programme for people with obesity attracted hundreds of Slovaks

An innovative online coaching programme for people with obesity called 14weeks, created by Dr Jozef Ukropec and Professor Barbara Ukropcová from the Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (BMC SAS), in cooperation with partners from the startup Zhiva and researchers from KInIT, attracted hundreds of candidates from all over Slovakia in the early days. In addition to coaching, the programme, which recently kicked off, also includes modern technologies, including artificial intelligence.

Involved in the programme are, from top left, prof. Barbara Ukropcová, Dr. Jozef Ukropec, Petra Dubajová, Alena Ferjančeková, Eva Kubíčková and Miriam Dojčárová from BMC SAS.

“We were pleasantly surprised by the great interest of the public in online lifestyle coaching for patients with obesity. On the other hand, it is in line with what we also observe at the Center for Obesity Management BMC SAS. People are becoming increasingly aware that obesity management is a long-distance race and that long-term sustainable lifestyle change is an essential part of it. Guidance in the form of coaching is very helpful for this,” says Professor Barbara Ukropcová.

The aim of the project is precisely to kick-start a sustainable weight loss regime and a long-term solution to obesity. The project is led by the BMC SAS and is in collaboration with Associate Professor Miroslav Beblavý, Professor Emília Sičáková Beblavá and Associate Professor Zuzana Košutzká from the organisation Zhiva.

Zhiva connects insights from behavioral science with practical tools to help people build healthy habits. The third partner of the project is the Kempelen Institute for Intelligent Technology (KInIT). In the project, it is working on ethical issues and artificial intelligence.

The co-authors of the programme are Mr and Mrs Ukropec, who work at the Center for Obesity Management and the Metabolic Disorders Research Unit of the Institute of Experimental Endocrinology of the BMC SAS and have many years of experience in the field of the impact of physical activity and comprehensive lifestyle modification on health. Jozef Ukropec heads the department, Barbara Ukropcova founded and manages the Center for Physical Activity of the BMC SAS (since 2017) and the Center for Obesity Management of the BMC SAS (since 2018, accredited by EASO in 2022).

“It is very important for us that the results we obtain in the laboratory or in clinical trials can also be used at the societal level,” explains Dr. Jozef Ukropec. “That is why we are trying to use smart technologies in the project and train artificial intelligence so that it can replace a human trainer and provide a similar service to the general public, i.e. to more people online,” he adds.

The programme combines coaching approaches, modern technology and incremental steps to help participants achieve sustainable results. All participants receive a smart watch that track their movement, heart rate, sleep and fitness in real time.

We have completed the initial recruitment phase and the first groups of volunteers started their journey of change in May. The programme, which is always 14 weeks long, will cover a range of topics: goal setting, diet, exercise, stress, healthy relationships and sleep. They will be accompanied by our physiotherapist Petra Dubajová, nutritional therapist Miriam Dojčárová, psychologist Jana Kubíčková and researcher Alena Ferjančeková.

The first interim results should be available in August this year. The project will run until June 2026 and the final results could be known by the end of next year.

Text: E. Rybárová, BMC SAS; B. Ukropcová, BMC SAS

Photo: E. Rybárová, BMC SAS

Funded by the EU NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Slovak Republic under Project No. 09I05-03-V02-00060.