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Awareness Levels of the Misuse of the 3500 Calorie Rule Predicting Long Term Weight Loss: 3440 Board #345 June 2 3

Recently, a new rule has been suggested to replace the 3500 calorie rule to predict long term weight loss (WL) but whether practitioners are aware of this is not known. PURPOSE: To assess the awareness of recent facts related to the misuse of the 3500 calorie rule for predicting WL and to determine whether awareness differs by certification status, a person’s training level and their perceived WL knowledge. METHODS: Students (S), faculty (F), and professionals (P) [n = 352, 68% female, 31 ± 13.5 years] responded to an anonymous online survey sent via email lists and social media platforms. Each participant responded yes or no regarding their awareness of 8 statements focused on the misuse of the 3500 calorie rule, compensation that takes place with WL, the recommendation of a new rule, and the nonlinear nature of WL. Participants reported current exercise and nutrition certifications and were grouped as certified or not certified. They also reported their level of WL knowledge on a 5 point Likert scale and were divided into 2 groups for analysis: very good or excellent (EX) knowledge vs good, fair and poor (Poor) knowledge. Chi squared analyses were used to test for differences in the proportions of respondents who were aware of each statement between knowledge, certification, and training level groups. RESULTS: The % who were aware of WL statements was lower in S (p<0.05) and ranged from 26.1 61.8% for S, 19.4 93.5% for F and 19.7 84.5% for P. The lowest awareness for all groups was regarding the new rule to predict WL and did not differ between groups (26.1%, 19.4%, and 19.7% for S, F, and P, respectively; p=0.48). For 7 of 8 statements, more of those with EX self-reported knowledge had an awareness (30.4 83.0%) of WL statements than those with Poor knowledge (18.4 63.3%; p<0.05). For 4 of the 8 statements, more of those who were certified (71.7 82.8%) had an awareness of WL statements than those without a certification (54.4 65.0%; p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: S were the least aware of the newest developments in the misuse of the 3500 calorie rule while F were the most aware, though awareness of some concepts were low for all. Awareness levels were highest in those who self-reported EX knowledge. Those with certifications had higher awareness levels of some WL concepts. More dissemination is needed to raise awareness of WL concepts.