People tend to lose a little more weight with online help than with traditional weight loss programs, according to a new study from Japan. With obesity on the rise, there have been many attempts to take advantage of the Internet to help people lose weight, mainly because it's thought to be easier and less expensive. But the effect of including online help in obesity treatment programs was pretty small in the new study.
Overall, patients in programs with a web component lost an average of a pound and a half more than participants in non-Web programs, the researchers reported in the International Journal of Obesity. The findings are from a review of 23 studies that compared weight control programs with an Internet component to programs that did not involve any online support.
The Internet was used for a variety of purposes in the different weight control programs. These included individualised instruction, communication with lifestyle instructors, counselling, and keeping a record of food intake. In addition, the programs varied in how much participants used the Internet.
The research team, headed by Dr H. Sone of the University of Tsukuba Institute of Clinical Medicine in Ibaraki, Japan, did identify certain features that made web-based programs more - or less - effective.
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