DISSEMINATING EFFECTIVE HABITS FOR LONG-TERM WEIGHT LOSS

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Though the Internet has typically been a place for finding information, more than a third of Americans with Internet access in 2006 reported entering information into websites, such as by using message boards or by rating products or services. Given that 75% of Americans have access to the Internet, the Internet has tremendous potential for sharing information between those who have been successful at losing weight and those who are trying to lose weight. We have developed and done preliminary testing on such a website, in which individuals created their own strategies to lose weight and then monitored whether the strategies were working. The specific aim of the project is to complete a 3-month pilot randomized trial of the effect of the web-based intervention for overweight individuals who are interested in losing weight.