Online Weight Management Said to Show Potential

7/27/2010

A recent study is offering new insight into successful strategies that people can use to manage their weight and hold down their medical bills and health insurance costs in the long term.

According to the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, the study focused on a web-based weight maintenance initiative.

Those who used the website to track their weight at least once a month over the 2.5-year course of the study were said to have experienced the most weight loss.

"This study shows that if people use quality weight management websites consistently, and if they stick with their program, they are more likely to keep their weight off," said study co-author Victor Stevens, PhD. "Keeping weight off is even more difficult than losing it in the first place, so the fact that so many people (in the study) were able to maintain a good portion of their weight loss is very encouraging."

According to Kaiser Permanente, participants would use the website to record their weight as well as the amount of time they spent exercising and information on food consumption. Another feature on the website was an interactive bulletin board where people could communicate with fellow participants while also getting further guidance from health experts.

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