Losing Weight Can be More Effective When Done in Groups: STUDY

Losing weight can be done more effectively if a person engages in group activities and attends weight group sessions, according to a study released Tuesday.

The said study was organized and conducted with a grant from the Weight Watchers International and was carried out, in part, by some of the weight management experts at the Baylor College of Medicine. They found that in a group consisting of 292 participants, roughly half of those who were enrolled in Weight Watchers lost more weight over six months than those who didn't by approximately five percent. Weight Watchers International also found that the more frequently people used various Weight Watchers tools, the more weight they lost. "The people who were most engaged were the people who did best in the program", said Craig Johnson, lead author of the study from the Baylor College of Medicine.

Previous research has also found that the Weight Watchers program, well-known for its point system and regular meetings, helps people lose weight. The results of their study published in the American Journal of Medicine also suggests that although a variety of tools can help inform, encourage and reward people who wish to lose weight, there is still no replacement for actual support systems that are deemed most powerful.

Researchers involved in the study stressed that the single best predictor by which the participants lost weight was based on their attendance at group meetings. Such meetings are also attended by veteran Weight Watchers members who have already achieved and maintained their desired weight. "It's one of the harder changes people make in their lives, to lose weight, and we're social animals," said Baylor School of Medicine psychologist Craig A. Johnston. "Being around people who can encourage and reinforce you -- people who are talking about that challenge -- is going to help in terms of weight loss," he added.