Successful weight loss: how information technology is used to lose

Commercial producers have outpaced traditional academic healthcare in terms of novel repackaging of traditional approaches to weight control for online delivery. Little is known, however, about consumers' experiences with such products and services. We explored ways that people use information technology (IT) to facilitate health-related behavioral change.

Qualitative methods and grounded theory methodology were used to analyze transcripts of audiotaped material from three focus groups, each with 12 participants. Participants were recruited from an ongoing, community-wide weight-loss event, who reported regular or frequent use of IT.

Participants frequently used IT applications for completing functional tasks associated with weight loss. In contrast, most participants preferred in-person social support. IT applications facilitated integration of behavior change tasks into everyday life. Despite easy access to a range of social networking Web sites and tools, however, having access to in-person social support was targeted as critical to successful weight loss and well-being. To this end, the role of work peers and work environments was emphasized by these participants.

In terms of patient care, successful health portals may benefit from either developing or integrating existing IT applications that save time and/or provide users with visual feedback on progress toward goals. IT-delivered resources would likely optimize community-based behavioral health interventions that target naturally occurring social groups.