Skripsi

The role of low calorie diet in reducing body fat mass in obese patients

Introduction: Defined as excessive amount of body fat in the body, obesity has become one of the largest health issues among many others that attracts considerable amount of attention. Many treatments have been developed and employed to manage obesity, one of them is low calorie diet. By means of meal replacement programs, in which calories are counted and meals are replaced with balanced composition ingredients of carbohydrate, protein and fat. Studies have shown that meal replacement programs have been proved to reduce weights. The objective of this study was to see if meal replacement program can be used to decrease body fat mass percentage. Methods: Forty-six eligible patients from Unilever Ltd. in Surabaya were enrolled to the study. All patients receive a two-month low calorie diet program. Measurements of age, sex, BMI, and body fat mass were taken at 3 points (recruitment day, mid-point, and at the end of the program). Results: There was a significant decrease in body fat mass from baseline (recruitment day) to endpoint by 1.3% (p = 0.000, CI 95% 2.62 – 4.54). Conclusion: Low calorie diet is effective in reducing body fat mass within the time frame of two months.
Keywords: Obesity, Body Fat Mass, Diet.