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CNN Live Today
Daily Dose: Weight Loss on the Web
Aired February 05, 2004 - 11:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We wanted to get some health news in for you before we send you on your way. And America's obsession with diets is now spreading to cyber space. Online diets are gaining in popularity as Americans try to lose weight. Weight loss on the web, the focus of our "Daily Dose" of health news today.
And joining us from Dallas is Lona Sandon with the American Dietetic Association. Good morning.
LONA SANDON, AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION: Good morning.
KAGAN: Thank you for sticking with us. When you go online, what do you get?
SANDON: There's a whole variety of things that you get, anywhere from daily menus, daily exercise plans, online journals to track your exercise activity, as well as food journals to track how much you're eating.
KAGAN: Now, most of these sites look like they charge anywhere from $10 to $20. Is it a month or a week, to participate?
SANDON: It really varies among the sites. It can vary anywhere from zero or free, some of the services, up to maybe $25 or $30 per month.
KAGAN: I would think some of the benefits would be if you had a crazy schedule, as many of us do, you don't have to make sure you're making time for an appointment or for a meeting. It works on your schedule.
SANDON: Exactly. I've seen many patients -- as a registered dietitian and an assistant professor at UT Southwestern, and these patients are busy. It's very difficult for them to get in and come back for a follow up appointment when we're dealing with weight loss.
So sometimes I do recommend that patients or clients I see use some of these sites as a way to monitor food and exercise habits, in between times that they can get in to see me.
KAGAN: On the other hand, would you be concerned that people are out there, then, unsupervised?
SANDON: Yes, I'm concerned about that. It does take a certain commitment from the individuals to make sure they do log on and track their numbers. But they also have to make sure that they're logging on to a site with well qualified, credentialed individuals running that site and providing the information because some of the sites out there don't have good information and could actually be more harmful than they could be good.
KAGAN: It also seems like some of them could be just platforms to sell products, products that might not be that healthy.
SANDON: Exactly. And that's one of those things you should watch out for when you're choosing an online diet site is what they're trying to sell you? Are they trying to sell you additional supplements, fat burners, metabolism enhancers and that sort thing? Are they selling you something along with that, where it's going to cost you more money than just the sign up fee to use some of their tool as behavior modification for weight loss goals?
KAGAN: When you look at some products, some have things you can do in person or online, like Weight Watchers. You can go to Weight Watchers meetings or WeightWatchers.com. Does anybody track this to see which is more effective?
SANDON: Well there hasn't been a lot of research yet to really look at what is most effective out there. Definitely, the programs that do include some kind of tracking and social connection with other individuals in those similar situations that are trying to lose large amounts of weight. Those types of tools help that individual be successful in their goals.
And there's been some limited research to say that, yes, having those tools where people can interact with each other around the country is definitely helpful, as well as tools such as daily e-mail reminders, or newsletters seem to help patients or clients do better to meet their weight loss goals in the long run.
KAGAN: You know, it seems to me there's nothing really magic here. If you use this as another tool, take someone who is really motivated to do the work, use the online site, do the exercise count the calories, those are the people who will lose weight. There's no magic bullet still after all this time.
Well, we just -- speaking of a little magic, we could have used a little magic. A little satellite problem. Lona Sandon, we did get most of our questions in there. Our apologies for pulling the plug a little bit early on the interview.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 5, 2004 - 11:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We wanted to get some health news in for you before we send you on your way. And America's obsession with diets is now spreading to cyber space. Online diets are gaining in popularity as Americans try to lose weight. Weight loss on the web, the focus of our "Daily Dose" of health news today.
And joining us from Dallas is Lona Sandon with the American Dietetic Association. Good morning.
LONA SANDON, AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION: Good morning.
KAGAN: Thank you for sticking with us. When you go online, what do you get?
SANDON: There's a whole variety of things that you get, anywhere from daily menus, daily exercise plans, online journals to track your exercise activity, as well as food journals to track how much you're eating.
KAGAN: Now, most of these sites look like they charge anywhere from $10 to $20. Is it a month or a week, to participate?
SANDON: It really varies among the sites. It can vary anywhere from zero or free, some of the services, up to maybe $25 or $30 per month.
KAGAN: I would think some of the benefits would be if you had a crazy schedule, as many of us do, you don't have to make sure you're making time for an appointment or for a meeting. It works on your schedule.
SANDON: Exactly. I've seen many patients -- as a registered dietitian and an assistant professor at UT Southwestern, and these patients are busy. It's very difficult for them to get in and come back for a follow up appointment when we're dealing with weight loss.
So sometimes I do recommend that patients or clients I see use some of these sites as a way to monitor food and exercise habits, in between times that they can get in to see me.
KAGAN: On the other hand, would you be concerned that people are out there, then, unsupervised?
SANDON: Yes, I'm concerned about that. It does take a certain commitment from the individuals to make sure they do log on and track their numbers. But they also have to make sure that they're logging on to a site with well qualified, credentialed individuals running that site and providing the information because some of the sites out there don't have good information and could actually be more harmful than they could be good.
KAGAN: It also seems like some of them could be just platforms to sell products, products that might not be that healthy.
SANDON: Exactly. And that's one of those things you should watch out for when you're choosing an online diet site is what they're trying to sell you? Are they trying to sell you additional supplements, fat burners, metabolism enhancers and that sort thing? Are they selling you something along with that, where it's going to cost you more money than just the sign up fee to use some of their tool as behavior modification for weight loss goals?
KAGAN: When you look at some products, some have things you can do in person or online, like Weight Watchers. You can go to Weight Watchers meetings or WeightWatchers.com. Does anybody track this to see which is more effective?
SANDON: Well there hasn't been a lot of research yet to really look at what is most effective out there. Definitely, the programs that do include some kind of tracking and social connection with other individuals in those similar situations that are trying to lose large amounts of weight. Those types of tools help that individual be successful in their goals.
And there's been some limited research to say that, yes, having those tools where people can interact with each other around the country is definitely helpful, as well as tools such as daily e-mail reminders, or newsletters seem to help patients or clients do better to meet their weight loss goals in the long run.
KAGAN: You know, it seems to me there's nothing really magic here. If you use this as another tool, take someone who is really motivated to do the work, use the online site, do the exercise count the calories, those are the people who will lose weight. There's no magic bullet still after all this time.
Well, we just -- speaking of a little magic, we could have used a little magic. A little satellite problem. Lona Sandon, we did get most of our questions in there. Our apologies for pulling the plug a little bit early on the interview.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
