Our Weight program targets three health behaviors crucial to effective weight management:
- Healthy Eating (i.e., reducing calorie and dietary fat intake)
- Moderate Exercise, and
- Managing Stress Without Eating
Online Program
We have self-directed (samples below) and coaching versions of our online Weight Management program.
View sample screens: Healthy Eating, Exercise or Managing Stress Without Eating.
Off-line Program
Includes printed questionnaire, tailored feedback report and A Guide for Healthy Weight Management, a stage-based behavior change manual for each participant. See off-line programs page for more information.
Printed Manual
A Guide for Healthy Weight Management
A stage-based manual developed for overweight and moderately obese adults. Part of the off-line program or available separately.
A special diabetes version of the Weight Management printed manual is also available.
For ordering information, see our manuals order page.
Effectiveness
In our Weight Management randomized clinical trial1, we had the following results:
- Study size: 1277 overweight or moderately obese adults (BMI 25-39.9) recruited nationally, primarily from large employers.
- Effect at 24 months:
- Significantly more (47.5% vs. 34.3%) of those receiving tailored messaging for healthy eating reached the Action or Maintenance stages than the comparison group.
- Significantly more (44.90% versus 38.10%) of those receiving individually tailored messages for exercise reached Action or Maintenance than the comparison group.
- Significantly more (48.5% versus 39.0%) of those in the treatment group reached Action or Maintenance for fruit and vegetable consumption.
- Among those in a pre-Action stage for both healthy eating and exercise at baseline, 29.8% of the treatment group lost 5% or more of their body weight versus 16.6% in the comparison group.
This program was developed with support from SBIR grant R44HL070549 from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.
Results Published
1. Johnson, S. S., Paiva, A. L., Cummins, C. O., Johnson, J. L., Dyment, S. J., Wright, J. A., Prochaska, J. O., Prochaska, J. M., & Sherman, K. (2008). Transtheoretical model-based multiple behavior intervention for weight management: Effectiveness on a population basis. Preventive Medicine, 46, 238-246. abstract
BACKGROUND. The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity underscore the need for evidence-based, easily disseminable interventions for weight management that can be delivered on a population basis. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) offers a promising theoretical framework for multiple behavior weight management interventions. METHODS. Overweight or obese adults (BMI 25-39.9; n=1277) were randomized to no-treatment control or home-based, stage-matched multiple behavior interventions for up to three behaviors related to weight management at 0, 3, 6, and 9 months. All participants were re-assessed at 6, 12, and 24 months. RESULTS. Significant treatment effects were found for healthy eating (47.5% versus 34.3%), exercise (44.90% versus 38.10%), managing emotional distress (49.7% versus 30.30%), and untreated fruit and vegetable intake (48.5% versus 39.0%) progressing to Action/Maintenance at 24 months. The groups differed on weight lost at 24 months. Co-variation of behavior change occurred and was much more pronounced in the treatment group, where individuals progressing to Action/Maintenance for a single behavior were 2.5-5 times more likely to make progress on another behavior. The impact of the multiple behavior intervention was more than three times that of single behavior interventions. CONCLUSIONS. This study demonstrates the ability of TTM-based tailored feedback to improve healthy eating, exercise, managing emotional distress, and weight on a population basis. The treatment produced a high level of population impact that future multiple behavior interventions can seek to surpass.