Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Medindia

Twitter Updates on Healthy Living can Help Obese Individuals Lose Weight

by Kathy Jones on Jan 17 2013 7:15 PM

 Twitter Updates on Healthy Living can Help Obese Individuals Lose Weight
Researchers at University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health reveal the “good” side of Twitter after finding that the social networking site may speed up the rate at which obese people may lose weight.
The researchers found that people who read more number of Twitter updates related to healthy living were more likely to lose weight with an average of 0.5 percent of body weight lost for every 10 Twitter updates.

The researchers conducted the study on a group of 96 obese men and women, dividing them into two groups. Both the groups were provided with a phone and internet facility and also received two podcasts per week for the first three months and two mini-podcasts per week between the third and sixth month on information regarding nutrition and exercise and goal setting.

One group was allowed to download an app and was allowed to log on and read two messages of encouragement every day from a weight loss counselor. The participants were also encouraged to post their own messages of healthy living which were read by other members of the group. The researchers found that participants in this second group lost more weight compared to those from the first group.

The study has been published in the journal Translational Behavioral Medicine.

Source-Medindia


Advertisement