Effects of a multicomponent intervention on body composition and cardiovascular risk factors in women with obesity– a randomized clinical trial

Purpose: Despite the widespread importance of addressing obesity as a major public health concern, the combination of conventional weight management strategies (e.g., diet and exercise) with complementary therapies (e.g., reflexology) remains understudied. This study assessed the effects of a multicomponent intervention, including calorie restriction (CR), exercise (EX), and foot reflexology (FR) (a well-documented complementary therapy) on body composition and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in women with obesity, hypothesizing greater improvements with reflexology added to CR + EX. Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 40 women with obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30) were randomly assigned to a CR + EX group (n = 20) and a CR + EX + FR group (n = 20). Two intervention groups before, 7, and 14 weeks after the interventions were compared in body composition, e.g., body fat and BMI, and CVD risk factors, e.g., high- and low-density lipoprotein (HDL and LDL) and diastolic-systolic blood pressure (DBP and SBP). Student’s t-test and repeated measures t-test with a significance level of < 0.05 were used to compare differences between and within groups. Results: There was a significant decrease in BMI (mean difference (MD)=-1.23), body weight (MD=-3.35), BF (MD=-3.55), GL (MD=-0.47), cholesterol (MD=-7.45), TG (MD=-6.50), SBP (MD=-2.75), MM (MD = 0.97) and HDL (MD = 1.90) after 14 weeks of intervention in the CR + EX + FR comparing the CR + EX group (p < 0.05). However, the LDL (MD=-0.55), DBP (MD=-1.65) reduction, and FFM (MD=-2.24) maintenance did not differ between groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions: The combination of CR, EX, and FR shows promise in improving body composition (reducing BF, BMI, and weight), lipid profiles (lowering total cholesterol and TG, increasing HDL), and blood pressure. This integrated multicomponent intervention approach may effectively manage obesity-related complications and enhance cardiovascular health. Further research is needed to assess long-term effects and underlying mechanisms.