weight loss food: Commercial weight-loss programs - Food Intake and Diet Trends in the US
Congressional hearings in the early 90s revealed that some commercial weight loss programs made false and misleading claims in marketing their products. These hearings led the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to file consent degrees with several companies, which agreed to stop airing questionable advertisements. Companies were required to provide data to support claims of long-term weight control, and any testimonials had to be accompanied by a disclaimer that `results may not be typical.' Some groups, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest, believed that these measures did not go far enough to protect consumers. In response to this concern, the FTC convened a panel comprising members from academia, industry, consumer advocacy, the National Institutes of Health, and the FTC to develop voluntary guidelines for the disclosure of information concerning weight-loss programs. The panel recommended that commercial weight loss programs voluntarily provide to consumers information about the risks of overweight and obesity, staff qualifications and the central components of their interventions, and the safety and costs of their programs, in response to these panel meetings, the Partnership for Healthy Weight Management was established in February 1999. Soon thereafter, the Partnership issued the Voluntary Guidelines for Providers of Weight Loss Products or Services, which specified the content and tone of the information that should be provided to consumers. The guidelines drew on earlier efforts of an expert panel convened by the Institute of Medicine, however, they were drafted without the benefit of specific data from consumers concerning the information they desired when choosing a weight loss program.
This pilot study sought to determine the type of information that obese individuals would like to be provided when choosing a commercial weight loss program inclusive weight loss diet food. The researchers were trying to determine whether the disclosure guidelines proposed by the Panel reflected the actual interests of consumers. Participants were 90 women, 65.6% white, with a mean age of 44 years, weight of 97 kg, and body mass index (BMI) of 36 kg/[m.sup.2]. They were consecutive enrollees in two randomized controlled trials on the behavioral treatment of obesity.
Before treatment, participants completed a questionnaire called Choosing a Weight-Loss Program and were asked to rate how important each of the 16 factors would be in helping them select a plan. Ratings were made using 5-point scales, anchored by `not at all important' and `extremely important' (scored 1 and 5 respectively). Participants also identified the five factors that they thought were the most important, as well as the single most important.
The mean rating for the importance of safety was significantly greater than that for each of the 15 other variables. In addition, significantly more respondents (27.8%) selected safety as the single most important factor than any other variable. Other factors that were consistently judged as very important included information about diet, behavior modification, cost, and maintenance of weight loss. Staff credentials were among the lowest rated items. When asked what data they would want if they could only have 5 pieces of information, participants most frequently selected the following items: cost (selected by 62.22% of respondents): prescribed diet (58.89%); safety (55.56%); typical weight loss (52.22%); and behavior modification (50.00%). Information about types of meetings and exercise was also important to participants, however information on exercise was rated as significantly less important than that concerning diet, possibly reflecting the greater emphasis that weight-loss advertisements place on diet.
The results generally support the disclosure guidelines proposed by the Partnership for Healthy Weight Management. Consumers, however, seem to desire information about weight loss, in addition to that concerning safety, cost, and general program components. The researchers encourage additional providers of commercial weight-loss programs, as well as manufacturers of weight-loss products, to report data on the safety and efficacy of their interventions to assist consumers in making fully informed decisions.
S Wang, T Wadden, L Womble, C Nonas. What Consumers Want to Know about Commercial Weight-Loss Programs: A Pilot Investigation. Obes Res 11(1):48-53 (January 2003) [Correspondence: Thomas A Wadden University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street. Suite 3029. Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail: wadden@mail.med.upenn.edu]
COPYRIGHT 2003 Frost & Sullivan
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
This pilot study sought to determine the type of information that obese individuals would like to be provided when choosing a commercial weight loss program inclusive weight loss diet food. The researchers were trying to determine whether the disclosure guidelines proposed by the Panel reflected the actual interests of consumers. Participants were 90 women, 65.6% white, with a mean age of 44 years, weight of 97 kg, and body mass index (BMI) of 36 kg/[m.sup.2]. They were consecutive enrollees in two randomized controlled trials on the behavioral treatment of obesity.
Before treatment, participants completed a questionnaire called Choosing a Weight-Loss Program and were asked to rate how important each of the 16 factors would be in helping them select a plan. Ratings were made using 5-point scales, anchored by `not at all important' and `extremely important' (scored 1 and 5 respectively). Participants also identified the five factors that they thought were the most important, as well as the single most important.
The mean rating for the importance of safety was significantly greater than that for each of the 15 other variables. In addition, significantly more respondents (27.8%) selected safety as the single most important factor than any other variable. Other factors that were consistently judged as very important included information about diet, behavior modification, cost, and maintenance of weight loss. Staff credentials were among the lowest rated items. When asked what data they would want if they could only have 5 pieces of information, participants most frequently selected the following items: cost (selected by 62.22% of respondents): prescribed diet (58.89%); safety (55.56%); typical weight loss (52.22%); and behavior modification (50.00%). Information about types of meetings and exercise was also important to participants, however information on exercise was rated as significantly less important than that concerning diet, possibly reflecting the greater emphasis that weight-loss advertisements place on diet.
The results generally support the disclosure guidelines proposed by the Partnership for Healthy Weight Management. Consumers, however, seem to desire information about weight loss, in addition to that concerning safety, cost, and general program components. The researchers encourage additional providers of commercial weight-loss programs, as well as manufacturers of weight-loss products, to report data on the safety and efficacy of their interventions to assist consumers in making fully informed decisions.
S Wang, T Wadden, L Womble, C Nonas. What Consumers Want to Know about Commercial Weight-Loss Programs: A Pilot Investigation. Obes Res 11(1):48-53 (January 2003) [Correspondence: Thomas A Wadden University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street. Suite 3029. Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail: wadden@mail.med.upenn.edu]
COPYRIGHT 2003 Frost & Sullivan
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
