Compared to no intervention or minimal interventions (pamphlets, usual care), interactive computer-based interventions are an effective intervention for weight loss and weight maintenance. Compared to in-person interventions, interactive computer-based interventions result in smaller weight losses and lower levels of weight maintenance. The amount of additional weight loss, however, is relatively small and of brief duration, making the clinical significance of these differences unclear.
The effect of two nutritional software programs used as adjuncts to the behavioral treatment of obesity.
The need to provide nutritional information in the behavioral treatment of obesity is now generally recognized. However, the comparative efficacy of various delivery modes remains to be demonstrated. Two commercial software packages (The Eating Machine and EATS) were embedded in Ferguson's (1975) prototypical behavioral program and contrasted with the Ferguson approach deployed alone. Assessments of weight, nutritional knowledge, eating behavior, and related cognitive variables were made at pretest, posttest, 1-month follow-up and 6-month follow-up occasions. No incremental effects attributable to the software programs appeared.