MOBILE PHONES AS A
SELF-MONITORING TOOL

by

Brent Dewayne Clayton

A master’s project submitted to the faculty of
The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Health Promotion and Education

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Glenn Richardson
Department of Health Promotion and Education
College of Health
University of Utah
December 2011

University of Utah
Graduate School

This is to certify that I have examined this copy of a master’s thesis by

Brent Dewayne Clayton

and have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the final examining committee have been made.

Committee Members:
________________________
Glenn E. Richardson, Ph.D.

_______________________
Eric P. Trunnell, Ph.D.

_______________________
Rick Graham, Ph.D.

Date:________________________

Abstract

Objective. To prove the researcher’s hypothesis that mobile phones can be used as a self-monitoring tool. This will be accomplished by sending daily SMS (text) messages with reminders for the participants to track their daily food intake. Methods. Participants of Intermountain Healthcare’s Weigh to Health program, a weight loss program, were recruited to participate in this research study. As part of the study, the participants received daily messages for six weeks reminding them to track (self-monitor) their eating habits. An evaluation was conducted at the end of the six weeks to test the effectiveness of the research project. Results. Before the program was implemented, 66% of the participants were not self-monitoring their food intake. After the study, 1.) 83% reported that the text messages helped remind them to track their food intake and 2.) 50% of the participants reported on the evaluation that the daily text message helped them create a habit of tracking their food intake. It was