Evaluation of a weight-inclusive health coaching programme on body appreciation and eating competence in university students: a pilot study

Weight-inclusive health coaching provides a viable alternative to traditional weight-centric models of care and may assist clients in implementing sustainable health behaviours. The purpose of this project was to assess the impact of a six-session university campus health coaching programme (UCAN) on eating competence and body appreciation in university students. The UCAN intervention included twenty-eight participants (88.9% female, 89.3% white) who completed six individual weekly motivational interviewing sessions. Pre- and post-surveys included demographic questions, the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2), and the Satter Eating Competence Inventory (ecSI 2.0). Paired samples t-tests were conducted to determine changes in body appreciation and eating competence from pre- to post-intervention. There was a statistically significant increase in body appreciation (M_pre = 3.46, M_post = 3.72, p =.01) and in eating competence (M_pre = 29.62, M_post = 33.38, p =.003) from pre- to post-intervention. Results from the study indicate that participation in a six-week weight-inclusive health coaching programme was associated with improvements in body appreciation and eating competence one week after the final session. Future research would benefit from replicating this study with a more diverse population.