NEW YORK, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Weight Watchers International, Inc. (WTW) applauds the updated clinical guidelines from the USPSTF that, when implemented, increase the number of adults screened for obesity as well as referrals to intensive, multicomponent behavioral interventions, including community-based programs.
The USPSTF found that effective interventions were of high intensity (no fewer than 12 sessions in a year) and successful interventions include multiple behavioral management activities, such as group sessions, individual sessions, setting weight-loss goals, improving diet or nutrition, physical activity sessions, addressing barriers to change, active use of self-monitoring, and strategizing how to maintain lifestyle changes.
"As the world's leading provider of weight management services provided within communities, we're thrilled the USPSTF continues to recognize the efficacy of behavior-based solutions," said Karen Miller-Kovach, Chief Scientific Officer, Weight Watchers International. "Through more than 20,000 Weight Watchers meetings around the country every week, we remain committed to being an accessible, scalable, affordable and most important, effective option for communities and workplaces throughout the U.S. to help treat obese and overweight adults."
Weight Watchers also commends the USPSTF for recognizing the importance of screening and referral by primary care physicians. A growing body of research that was part of the USPSTF review process in updating the recommendation shows that physician referral to a community-based program like Weight Watchers is a powerful combination. In fact, Weight Watchers has published more than 70 publications over the past 15 years that demonstrate the efficacy of the Weight Watchers approach to weight loss and long-term health.
For example, a September 2011 study published in The Lancet (i) showed that a partnership between primary care physicians and the Weight Watchers program works. The one-year global study demonstrated that overweight and obese participants who were referred to Weight Watchers by a health care provider lost, on average, more than twice as much weight as those in the standard care group. The data demonstrates how a brief intervention by a health care provider including referral to Weight Watchers can be successful on a large scale in helping those with excess weight to achieve medically significant health benefits from losing weight.
In addition, research conducted in Birmingham, UK, and funded by NHS (National Health Service South Birmingham), examined the effectiveness of eight weight management options in a randomized, controlled 12-week trial with follow-up after one year.(ii) The study found that community-based weight management programs are more effective and more cost-effective than health professional primary care-based weight management counseling alone. In fact, the only groups in the trial that achieved statistically significant and sustained weight loss were those participating in group, community-based programs.
"More than 72 million Americans are obese(iii) but there are only 246,000 primary care physicians in the U.S.(iv), a ratio of nearly 300 obese adults for every one physician," says David Kirchhoff, CEO of Weight Watchers International. "Obviously, the obesity epidemic cannot be contained within the confines of the doctor's office. We stand ready to help physicians help their patients in the battle against weight-related chronic disease."
The updated recommendations, which were published online June 26, 2012 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, recognize this, stating "Although intensive interventions may be impractical within many primary care settings, patients may be referred from primary care to community-based programs for these interventions."
The Weight Watchers approach aligns with the recommendations as follows:
