West Virginia University research says technology that connects aging adults in rural areas with health experts improves weight loss

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In many
rural areas, treating chronic diseases related to diet and weight is
challenging because of limited access to food and nutrition experts. A West
Virginia University
professor has found that using technology to connect those experts with middle-aged
and older patients in those areas can improve nutritional health. 

Melissa Ventura Marra, assistant professor of human nutrition and foods in the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, is part of a multistate research
team that is evaluating how food security and lifestyle choices such as diet
quality and physical activity affect individual health and well-being. 

The project
includes a broad range of research, from basic science to social science, from
13 universities around the country. A team of scientists from the group will
present their findings during a special symposium as part of the International
Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics on July 23-27 in San Francisco. The
symposium, titled “Successes in older adult nutrition and physical activity
studies,” is the result of a USDA-funded multistate research project that began
in 1989.  

The
research project examines three areas: molecular and mechanistic understanding
of how nutrients and activity can influence age-related diseases, environmental
factors that influence the adoption of health-promoting lifestyle changes, and
lifestyle needs assessment and evaluation of lifestyle interventions that lead
to measurable outcomes. 

Marra is
involved in several studies that are part of the overarching project. At the
symposium she will present on a pilot project that was conducted in Harrison
County, West Virginia, that assessed the use of telenutrition to achieve weight
loss and improvements in diet in a group of middle-aged and older men. 

Telenutrition
uses various technologies to implement nutrition care. It is akin to Skype or
Facetime, but its purpose is to deliver nutrition care directly to patients in
their homes. 

“Telenutrition
is a form of telehealth that has the potential to increase access ...

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