Study: Online interventions help with weight loss

PROVIDENCE – ShapeUp, a Rhode Island-based provider of social networking and incentives-based employee-wellness programs, released a study last week showing that participants achieve eight times the weight loss when online and in-person interventions are included in a weight-loss regimen.
The researchers analyzed the weight loss outcomes of 230 ShapeUp participants competing in a three-month, team-based fitness competition. Specifically, they found that adding evidence-based online behavioral interventions combined with optional in-person group sessions led to an average weight loss of 6.1 percent of total body weight. In addition, the percentage of participants who lost at least 5 percent of their body weight increased from 6.5 percent to 54.3 percent.
“The findings of this study are significant in that they reveal substantial progress in identifying cost-effective, scalable, online behavioral weight loss interventions that are capable of significantly improving outcomes,” said Dr. Rajiv Kumar, founder and CEO of ShapeUp and one of the co-authors of the study. “At ShapeUp, we believe that combining social support with evidence-based health interventions is a recipe for sustainable behavior change, and this study strengthens our conviction.”
The study, “Adding Evidence-Based Behavioral Weight Loss Strategies to a Statewide Wellness Campaign: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” was published in June 2014 in the American Journal of Public Health.
To learn more about the study, please visit http://ajph.aphapublications.org.

No posts to display