Losing Weight for Good: Internet May Help

Internet Programs Fared Well in 2 New Weight Loss Studies

By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Oct. 17, 2005 --The Internet may help people shed extra pounds and maintain weight loss, two new studies show.

One study focused on weight loss. The other study tracked weight maintenance. People who used Internet weight programs fared well in both projects.

The studies were presented in Vancouver, Canada, at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity's annual meeting.

Losing Weight

The weight loss study included about 450 overweight U.S. Air Force personnel. They were at least 5 pounds below the Air Force's "maximum allowable weight."

Their average body mass index (BMI) was 29. That's overweight but not obese. Participants were about 33 years old, on average. Half were men.

All participated in a typical weight loss method. A group of these participants added on a 24-week Internet weight loss program to their regimen for the study. The Internet program included a self-help book and two motivational phone calls.

People who supplemented their usual weight loss method with the Internet weight loss program were more likely to lose at least 5% of their body weight.

About 23% in the Internet group who were over the "maximum allowable weight" met the weight loss goal compared with only 7% of those who weren't on the Internet weight loss program.

The researchers included Christine Hunter, PhD, chief of the Air Force's Substance Abuse Program Development.

Maintaining Weight Loss

A separate study tracked 314 people who had recently lost at least 10% of their body weight.

Participants had lost an average of 44 pounds. They were followed for the next 18 months. The big question: Would they keep the weight off?

Participants didn't have to go it alone. They were randomly assigned to get support in person, over the Internet, or from a newsletter.

The Internet and in-person plans were identical, except for how their meetings were conducted.

Participants in both groups were encouraged to be active, monitor their weight, and watch what they ate. If they gained more than five pounds, they were warned about it.

Both groups also met weekly for four weeks, and monthly for 18 months. The Internet group met online; the in-person groups met face to face.

Lasting Loss?

All three groups had some weight regain. The amounts were 2.5 pounds for the face-to-face group, six pounds for the Internet group, and about 10 pounds for the newsletter group.

"While the participants receiving face-to-face counseling fared the best, our study suggests that Internet-based weight-maintenance programs can provide a level of personal counseling, skill-building, and motivation important in helping people sustain weight loss," says researcher Rena Wing, PhD, MA, in a news release.

Wing is a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University's medical school. Her study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Daily Weigh-Ins Helped

People in the Internet and in-person groups tended to regain less than 5 pounds if they weighed themselves daily.

Daily weigh-ins were more common in those groups than in the newsletter group. Monitoring weight daily might have helped nip weight regain early, the researchers note.

Want more tips? Wing recently published a report based on the National Weight Control Registry, which includes more than 4,000 people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year.

Strategies from the registry included: