Citation
(2006), "Systematic review: an evaluation of major commercial weight loss programs in the United States", Clinical Governance: An International Journal, Vol. 11 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/cgij.2006.24811dae.009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Systematic review: an evaluation of major commercial weight loss programs in the United States
A.G. Tsai, T.A. Wadden, Annals of Internal Medicine2005Vol. 142 No. 1pp. 56-66
This review set out to determine the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of commercial and organised self-help weight loss programmes in the USA. Programmes evaluated were Weight Watchers, the medically supervised OPTIFAST and Health Management Resources programmes, the self-help TOPS programme and the internet-based eDiets programme. Six randomised controlled trials and four case series were identified. The authors concluded that the evidence to support the use of major commercial and self-help weight loss programmes is suboptimal. Despite the methodological limitations of the review, this conclusion seems appropriate.