Disseminating Effective Habits for Long-Term Weight Loss
Condition: Overweight; Obesity
MeSH terms: Overweight; Weight Loss
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of the study is to determine whether using a web-based weight loss website can
      help overweight individuals lose weight.
    

Detailed description: 
      Overweight and obesity are serious threats to public health. Over the last 20 years, the
      percentage of overweight and obese Americans, as well as the rate of diabetes, have grown
      tremendously (Cowie, Rust et al. 2006).

      Few individuals are successful at long-term weight loss. Long-term weight loss is an elusive,
      yet sought after goal for many Americans (2000). Fewer than 5% of adults are successful in
      maintaining a 20 pound weight loss for at least 2 years (Klem, Wing et al. 1997). While
      medications can be effective, they produce only small amounts of weight loss, carry a
      significant cost and appear to be effective only while being taken (2000). Surgery is an
      effective option, though the procedure has tremendous costs and potential complications
      (2000). This points to the need for innovative and effective treatments that helps
      individuals over the longer-term.

      Some, but not all, web-based treatments for weight loss have been shown to be effective. A
      recent study by Tate and colleagues showed that individuals who received counseling emails
      from a human or automated emails from a computer lost more weight than individuals who
      received neither(7.3 kg lost v. 4.9 kg and 2.6 kg, respectively) (Tate, Jackvony et al. 2006)
      (Tate, Jackvony et al. 2003). The feedback in the emails was based on diet and physical
      activity information that the individuals entered online. Dr. Harvey-Berino and colleagues
      has shown that social support delivered via the Internet can help weight loss efforts to the
      same degree as in person support (Harvey-Berino, Pintauro et al. 2004). Other studies have
      been mixed in their effects (Williamson, Walden et al. 2006) (Gold, Burke et al. 2007) (Wing,
      Tate et al. 2006), though there has generally been an effect from human feedback delivered
      via a computer. Other than the recent study by Tate and colleagues, no fully automated
      website has been effective at producing weight loss. It is our belief that fully automated
      systems are needed to meet the needs, in a cost-effective manner, of the 80 million
      overweight Americans who will need life-long help in losing weight and in maintaining their
      weight loss.

      During an earlier phase of the study, 50 in-depth interviews were conducted with individuals
      who have been successful at losing weight and keeping it off. These individuals were asked
      specifically about which habits they use to maintain their weight loss, how these habits are
      implemented and how barriers to using these habits are overcome. These interviews were
      transcribed and the data entered into a website, to be used as part of the intervention to be
      tested in this clinical trial.
    

Intervention name(s): Disseminating Effective Habits for Long-term Weight Loss; Achieve Together website
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Comparison of weight change among those participants in the weight loss intervention (immediate access to the weight loss website) and those participants in the control group (delayed access to the weight loss website).; access to the Achieve Together website immediately (Arm 1) or delayed (Arm 2)
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: weight loss; obesity; overweight