Weight loss pep talks by phone can work

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Having trouble sticking to your
diet and exercise program? Results of a new study suggest that
telephone-based weight-loss counseling can help people shed
pounds just as well as face-to-face counseling sessions. It’s
also more convenient and less expensive.

Early results from a 26-week study show that overweight
adults randomly assigned to weight-loss counseling by telephone
lost almost as much weight as those receiving weight-loss
services by going to meetings.

Subjects in the phone-based program lost an average of 23
pounds over 12 weeks and 28 pounds over 26 weeks, while those
attending the clinic-based program lost 28 pounds in 12 weeks
and no more by 26 weeks.

These results show “promise for weight loss interventions
delivered entirely over the phone as a viable alternative to
the usual clinic method,” study leader Joe Donnelly, director
of the center for physical activity and weight management at
the University of Kansas said in a statement.

According to Donnelly, for those looking to shed pounds,
there are many potential advantages to phone-based weight-loss
programs – the programs cost less than traditional programs and
there is less conflict with work and family commitments.
“Individuals also don’t incur the time and expense of getting
to and from the clinic,” he said.

For those providing the weight-loss services, “a
phone-based program allows them to reduce their overhead
expenses such as rent and utilities, which allows them to lower
the cost of their services. Essentially the provider and
participant can be located anywhere.”