Internet-based weight-loss program for low-income women after child birth
Approximately 4 million women give birth in the United States each year and, between 2004 and 2008, an estimated 25 percent retained more than 10 pounds of their pregnancy weight and gained additional weight during the postpartum year. Postpartum weight retention increases lifetime risk of obesity and related health issues. Prevalence rates of postpartum weight retention are higher among low-income Hispanic women. Few effective interventions exist for multicultural, low-income women. Suzanne Phelan, Ph.D., of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and colleagues examined whether an internet-based weight loss program in addition to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC program) for low-income postpartum women could produce greater weight loss than the WIC program alone. Twelve clinics were randomized to the WIC program (standard care group) or the WIC program plus the 12-month primarily internet-based weight loss program ...