Online program for losing weight works

(AP) -- Like most yo-yo dieters, Jacqueline Foss struggled with
different fad diets only to watch the pounds creep back. Left with
little choice, she turned to an unlikely source to help her slim down
-- the Internet.

Foss enrolled in an online diet program where she recorded her weight,
noted every meal in her food diary and chatted with support groups.
She reached her goal of a sleek 125 pounds after six months -- losing
28 pounds from her 5-foot-5-inch frame -- and even managed to keep the
weight off nearly a year later.

"It was convenient for me because I just log on from my house," said
Foss, a 41-year-old software saleswoman from Syracuse, New York. "It
was also private and if I failed, nobody would know but me."

Internet dieting has exploded in the last few years, attracting people
who lack the time to attend face-to-face meetings or those too
embarrassed to get on a scale in front of strangers. But the
popularity of cyberdieting has left some experts wondering whether it
is as effective as traditional counseling.

About two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Obesity,
which is linked to diabetes, heart disease and other ailments, is on
pace to beat smoking as the nation's leading cause of preventable
death.

Foss felt she needed to lose some weight and joined eDiets.com, one of
the largest online diet programs with over 200,000 active members. For
$5 a week, dieters receive personalized meal plans and shopping lists
and around-the-clock access to nutritionists and peer-support chat
rooms. Dieters are encouraged to keep a daily log of their food and a
weekly tally of their weight. If they forget, a message will pop up on
their computer the next time they sign on.

"It's not all about food and diet. A lot of it is getting the tools
you need to make behavioral changes," said Susan Burke, a registered
dietitian and vice president of nutrition services for eDiets.

While cyberdieting generally reaches a wider audience and is
significantly cheaper than weigh-in meetings with a counselor,
skeptics argue the biggest drawback is lack of accountability.

Unlike traditional dieters whose progress is monitored by a dietitian,
online dieters are trusted with keeping track of their own weight,
which critics say may cause some to inflate their results.

"When people are trying to make major lifestyle changes, information
typed on a page may only go so far for certain people," said Cynthia
Sass, a Tampa, Florida-based registered dietitian and spokeswoman for
the American Dietetic Association.

How Web diets compare
Experts agree more research is needed to determine how effective the
Internet is in helping people shed pounds and maintain their goal
weight.

A 2001 study by researchers at Brown University found that people who
enrolled in a structured online dieting program lost three times more
weight in six months than those who casually surfed the Internet for
diet information.

But the study published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association did not compare virtual weight-loss programs with
traditional counseling.

Last month, researchers at the University of Vermont suggested that
the Internet appears to work as well as offline programs in
maintaining long-term weight loss. The research published in the
journal Obesity Research did not examine whether the Internet actually
helped people lose weight.

Instead, Vermont researchers tracked 255 overweight and obese adults
who first lost weight with the help of a counselor. The adults were
then randomly assigned an 18-month maintenance program via the
Internet, in-person counseling or limited face-to-face contact.
Researchers found that people in the Internet group lost as much
weight in the maintenance phase as those who met regularly with a
dietitian.

"From a public health perspective, you can treat so many more
thousands of people on the Internet than you can in person," said Jean
Harvey-Berino, the study's lead author and an associate professor of
nutrition and food science. "There is some value to it."

Joan Rainwater, a paralegal turned yoga teacher from Waterville, Ohio,
used to be a "grazer," constantly snacking at night without keeping
track of what she ate. But after Rainwater signed on to
CaloriesCount.com two years ago, she discovered that being anonymous
helped her keep faithful records of her weight without the pressure of
weigh-in meetings.

"I was more honest with myself," said Rainwater, who shaved off 32
pounds and slimmed from a size 14 to a size 6. "There were times when
I'd skip a meeting because I knew I didn't want to get on the scale."

Many traditional diet centers like Weight Watchers International Inc.,
best known for their weekly meetings and group support, have extended
their presence to the Internet, offering a virtual counterpart to
dieters who cannot make in-person meetings.

"We offer the best of both worlds," said Grace Ann Arnold, spokeswoman
for Weigh****chers.com.