Better4All Personalized Intervention

Summary

The BETTER4U (Preventing obesity through Biologically and bEhaviorally Tailored inTERventions for you) project, funded by the European Union, aims to address obesity through biologically and behaviourally tailored interventions. Obesity is a major public health issue influenced by genetic, metabolic, and lifestyle factors. Despite current weight management interventions, many individuals face challenges due to these varied influences. The BETTER4U project seeks to improve weight management by incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) and polygenic risk scores (PRS) to personalize interventions. The goal is to test the effectiveness of these personalized interventions in improving weight loss compared to standard care, using advanced monitoring tools and AI models.

The BETTER4ALL personalized intervention is a multicentre, open-label, parallel-group randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving seven study sites across Cyprus, France, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. A total of 1,022 participants with overweight or obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²), aged 18-65 years, will be enrolled. Participants will be randomized into two groups: an intervention group receiving personalized lifestyle recommendations based on AI and PRS, and a control group receiving standard care recommendations. The intervention will last six months, followed by a six-month follow-up assessment.

The intervention's key aspects include wearable devices and a mobile application to monitor participants' behaviour, including physical activity, sleep, and eating habits. The intervention also integrates genetic, metabolic, and environmental data to provide tailored recommendations for weight loss. Participants' outcomes will be assessed regarding BMI, weight loss maintenance, changes in clinical biomarkers, body composition, and other lifestyle parameters.

This RCT will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of personalized weight management strategies. AI-driven personalized recommendations and real-time monitoring represent a significant shift from traditional, one-size-fits-all approaches. The results of this study could offer a more effective and sustainable model for obesity management, particularly by accounting for individual genetic predispositions and lifestyle factors. Furthermore, by evaluating the impact of the intervention on a wide range of health outcomes, including biomarkers and psychosocial factors, the study will provide a comprehensive understanding of how personalized interventions can improve overall health and weight management.

In addition to contributing to the scientific understanding of obesity and its management, this project has the potential to influence public health strategies, offering a more personalized, data-driven approach to obesity prevention and treatment. By integrating genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors, the BETTER4U intervention could pave the way for future innovations in digital health and obesity management.

Conditions

• Obesity Prevention

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Personalized lifestyle recommendations based on artificial intelligence (AI) and polygenic risk scores (PRS)

Personalized lifestyle intervention that integrates artificial intelligence (AI), polygenic risk scores (PRS), and real-time behavioral and environmental data. MyBETTER4U dynamically adapts to individual needs by combining genetic and biological profiling (e.g., PRS, microbiome, metabolomics), behavioral determinants (e.g., eating habits, physical activity, sleep patterns), sociodemographic and environmental context, technology-assisted self-monitoring through wearable devices and digital tools, and AI-driven decision-support systems that generate ongoing, individualized recommendations. Intervention group participants will receive personalized recommendations via the Better4U Platform, based on the AI model and, when available, their PRS and genetic data. Since genotyping results depend on sample processing timelines, baseline visits should be scheduled when results are available or expected within 1.5 months to ensure inclusion in the next visit.

BEHAVIORAL

Standard care: lifestyle counselling, healthy eating leaflet, and hyocaloric diet targeting ≥5% weight loss in 6 months.

Participants will receive feedback and counselling from the implementers on their weight status and lifestyle behaviours, based on their measurements/responses during the screening assessment. This counselling will be based on the general "healthy eating" (based on the Mediterranean diet) and "healthy lifestyle" recommendations for physical activity, sedentary time, and sleep (based on WHO recommendations) and will be considered the "standard care". Those recommendations will also be handed in to them in the form of a "standard care leaflet" to take home. Participants will also be provided with a "standard hypocaloric diet" based on their needs for weight loss, aiming for a ≥ 5% reduction in body weight at the end of the 6-month intervention period.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Navarra

  collaborator OTHER

• CENTRO DE ESTUDOS E INVESTIGACAO EM DINAMICAS SOCIAIS E SAUDE ASSOCIACAO SEM FINS LUCRATIVOS

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Cyprus

  collaborator OTHER

• Karolinska Institutet

  collaborator OTHER

• University SWPS

  collaborator OTHER

• UNIVERSITE LYON 1 CLAUDE BERNARD (UCBL)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Harokopio University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Yannis Manios, Professor · Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science & Education, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-10-01

Primary Completion

2026-06-01

Completion

2027-04-01

Countries

• Cyprus
• France
• Greece
• Poland
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden

Study Locations