Can Weight Watchers (WW) Help Address Maternal Obesity? An Audit of Weight Change in Women of Childbearing Age and Mothers-To-Be, Referred into a Commercial Slimming Programme

Objectives The scale of overweight and obesity amongst women of childbearing age or mothers to be, living in Wales, places a considerable burden on the NHS and public health. High BMI (over 30) during pregnancy increases the health risks for mother and baby. Policy advice recommends weight management services are available to help women lose weight before and whilst planning pregnancy. In parts of Wales, NHS partnerships with commercial companies provide weight management services for women considering or planning pregnancy. This study evaluates whether an established referral Weight Watchers (WW) programme, known to be effective in adults in England, can help mothers-to-be living in North Wales lose weight. Methods Analysis used routine data from 82 referrals to WW between June 2013 and January 2015. Participants received a referral letter inviting them to attend face-to-face group workshops combined with a digital experience. The programme encompassed healthy eating, physical activity and positive mind-set. Trained WW staff measured bodyweight before, during and at 12 weeks. On entry to the course, participants had a median age of 31.4 years (interquartile range (IQR) 28–34) with a median BMI of 36.8 kg/m2 (IQR 33.3–43.7). Results Women completing the course (n = 34) had a median weight loss of 5.65 kg (IQR 0.45–10.85), equating to 5.7% (SD 3.46) of initial body weight. Intention-to-treat analysis (last observation carried forward), which included lapsed courses n = 66, showed a median weight loss of 3.6 kg (IQR − 2.53 to 9.73), equating to 3.7% (SD 3.62) of initial body weight. Overall, there was significant weight loss during the WW programme (Wilcoxon signed rank test Z = − 6.16; p < 0.001). Weight loss was significantly correlated with the number of workshops attended (Spearman correlation coefficient 0.61 p < 0.001). The proportion of all 82 participants (intention to treat, baseline observation carried forward) that achieved a weight loss of ≥ 5% initial weight was 30.5%. Conclusions for Practice Referral of obese mothers-to-be into WW can successfully achieve short-term weight loss, at or above 5%, in approximately one third of participants. The dose–response effect supports a causal inference. Successful weight loss at this critical life stage may provide women with the necessary motivation to initiate weight loss for healthy pregnancy, however further research is required.

The Online Professor Today: From Isolation and Depression to Connected and Thriving

The online professor today is part of a high-risk group of workers experiencing adverse physical and mental symptoms that were unknown a decade ago. Depression, isolation, divorce, diabetes, antisocial behavior, PTSD, chronic pain, and even suicide is among crises happening now within this population segment once highly revered, yet few studies exist that determine how quickly the declination is occurring and if remedies from mainstream healthcare professionals are being offered; and if so, the degree of healing. Amelioration is often approached from an opposite perspective--meaning, change the behavior and the mindset change follows suit, as modeled by Alcoholics Anonymous, Weight Watchers, and Kaplan. New research, innovation, and application shows there is a surprising disconnect for achieving long-term and fulfilling change, in contrast to practiced methods in conventional healthcare. Subsequently, this research posits that change begins first with the mind, and after we better understand how identities and beliefs produce automated habits, behaviors once hazardous can be transformed into health and happiness.

Popularity of Commercial and Non-Commercial Diets From 2010–2020: A Google Trends Analysis

Objectives When looking to follow or change a diet, Americans have many choices across numerous commercial (COM) and non-commercial (NCOM) diets. Since the Internet is a go-to source for information, this study sought to use Google Trend Data (Google Search Interest; GSI) from 2010–2020 to examine the popularity of diets included in the 2021 U.S. News & World Reports’ (USN) Best Diet's Report. There were four aims: 1) identify which COM and NCOM diets had the highest GSI, 2) identify which diets had a higher GSI compared to the healthiest COM and NCOM diet (Weight Watchers and the Mediterranean Diet, respectively; determined by USN), 3) determine if any relationship exists between GSI and various USN healthfulness scores, and 4) determine which diet type (e.g., Balanced, Elimination, Low Calorie, etc.) has the highest GSI. Methods COM (n = 15) and NCOM (n = 24) diet names as well as their diet type (Balanced, Elimination, High protein, Low Calorie, Low Carbohydrate, or Low Fat) and scorings (Overall, Health, Managing or Preventing Diabetes, Heart-Health, Short-term and Long-term Weight Loss, Ease of Following, Nutrition, and Safety) were collected from USN and popularity was measured using GSI data (GSI Range: 0–100) collected from Google Trends for the United States from 2010–2020. Spearman or Pearson correlation analyses were used when necessary with alpha set to 0.05. Results Weight Watchers (mean GSI: 29.80) and the Keto Diet (mean GSI: 15.05) had the highest mean GSI over the past ten years of all COM and NCOM diets, respectively. While Weight Watchers had the highest mean GSI and was the highest ranked COM diet by USN, four diets had a higher GSI compared to the Mediterranean Diet (in descending order: Keto Diet, Paleo Diet, Vegan Diet, and the Fast Diet). The diet type with the highest mean GSI was low carbohydrate for both COM and NCOM diets. Mean GSI was not correlated with any of the USN diet scores (P &gt; 0.05 for all). Conclusions These results suggest that numerous, less-healthful NCOM diets are more popular than the most healthful NCOM diet, the Mediterranean Diet. Understanding what attracts people to these less-healthful NCOM diets can provide insight into diet selection that can be used to better support diet choice. Funding Sources None.

Comparing the Keyto App and Device with Weight Watchers’ WW App for Weight Loss: Protocol for a Randomized Trial

Background Obesity and being overweight are major contributing factors for many diseases. Calorie restricted diets often fail to result in sustained long-term weight loss. Very low–carbohydrate, high-fat ketogenic diets have been suggested to have superior metabolic and weight loss effects. Keyto is a low-cost, highly scalable mobile health (mHealth) app paired with a noninvasive biofeedback tool aimed at facilitating weight loss through a personalized healthy and predominantly plant- and fish-based ketogenic diet. Objective This protocol describes a randomized trial comparing the efficacy of the Keyto mHealth app and device intervention to that of Weight Watchers’ WW app in individuals who are overweight or obese. The primary outcome is weight loss after 12 weeks. Secondary and exploratory outcomes, including metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors, will be assessed at 12, 24, and 48 weeks. Methods A total of 144 participants will be recruited and randomized to either the Keyto program or Weight Watchers program. Study participants will be guided through the study via video conference or phone calls and will undergo a fasting blood analysis performed by a third-party diagnostic lab at weeks 0 and 12 to assess metabolic and cardiovascular risk markers. All participants will be asked to weigh themselves daily on a study-provided Bluetooth-enabled scale. Participants randomized to the Keyto arm will also be asked to measure their breath acetone levels, a measure of ketosis, with the Keyto device 3 times per day. Results Recruitment started in December 2019. Rolling recruitment is expected to be completed by July 2020. Data collection and analysis of the primary intervention phase is expected to be completed in October 2020. The 24- and 48-week follow-ups are expected to be completed in January 2021 and July 2021, respectively. Conclusions This trial will provide high-quality evidence regarding the efficacy of the Keyto weight loss program in individuals who are overweight and obese in a free-living condition. This study also fills a gap by examining the impact of a ketogenic diet emphasizing plant- and fish-based fats on blood lipid profile and cardiovascular disease risk. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04165707; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04165707. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/19053

Eating Disorder Awareness Campaigns: Thematic and Quantitative Analysis Using Twitter

Background Health awareness initiatives are frequent but their efficacy is a matter of controversy. We have investigated the effect of the Eating Disorder Awareness Week and Wake Up Weight Watchers campaigns on Twitter. Objective We aimed to examine whether the Eating Disorder Awareness Week and Wake Up Weight Watchers initiatives increased the volume and dissemination of Twitter conversations related to eating disorders and investigate what content generates the most interest on Twitter. Methods Over a period of 12 consecutive days in 2018, we collected tweets containing the hashtag #wakeupweightwatchers and hashtags related to Eating Disorder Awareness Week (#eatingdisorderawarenessweek, #eatingdisorderawareness, or #EDAW), with the hashtag #eatingdisorder as a control. The content of each tweet was rated as medical, testimony, help offer, awareness, pro-ana, or anti-ana. We analyzed the number of retweets and favorites generated, as well as the potential reach and impact of the hashtags and the characteristics of contributors. Results The number of #wakeupweightwatchers tweets was higher than that of Eating Disorder Awareness Week and #eatingdisorder tweets (3900, 2056, and 1057, respectively). The content of tweets was significantly different between the hashtags analyzed (P<.001). Medical content was lower in the awareness campaigns. Awareness and help offer content were lower in #wakeupweightwatchers tweets. Retweet and favorite ratios were highest in #wakeupweightwatchers tweets. Eating Disorder Awareness Week achieved the highest impact, and very influential contributors participated. Conclusions Both awareness campaigns effectively promoted tweeting about eating disorders. The majority of tweets did not promote any specific preventive or help-seeking behaviors.