Success in losing weight measurable

Success in losing weight - New meter should help

04/11/2013

Your name is „Fat Burner“, „FDH“ or „Atkins diet“. Those who want to lose weight can access a wide range of diets. Sometimes a success can be seen pretty fast. Unfortunately, the problem with dieting is that it does not take long for the pounds to be back in place as soon as you fall back into old habits.

In order to reduce the weight sustainably, a change of behavior is needed. Social medics at the Public Health Center of MedUni Vienna have now developed a measuring instrument that can predict the success of a diet. With the so-called compass questionnaire not only the will and the motivation (compilance) of the person to participate in the corresponding diet can be measured, but also how far the will to change behavior exists. "With the help of the compass, you get exactly the information you need to optimally support patients in activating personal resources for therapeutic success," explains Rudolf Schoberberger from the Institute of Social Medicine at the Center for Public Health at MedUni Vienna. The doctor will be able to use a 12-question checklist to identify whether the patient has doubts about the program or whether the recommendations for a change in behavior are actually being implemented. There is also the possibility to consider suggestions of the patient.

Personal inclinations should be shown.
Overall, the Compass questionnaire was tested on 253 participants in the weight loss program "Slim without diet" and has proven to be a proven tool in predicting success overall. For this purpose, data can be determined which provide information about norm behavior, organization, social support and knowledge of dieters.

The evaluation showed that the person, who was above the Compilance average in the answers, could reduce almost 6 kilograms within 12 months and maintain the weight in a sustainable manner. On the other hand, persons who performed poorly in the questionnaire achieved hardly any significant customer success or ended the diet prematurely. For the social doctor, the focus of the study was on the possibilities of computational diagnostics. "It is also about the motivation of the respective caregivers to pay more attention to the personal needs of the patients," says Schoberberger. (Fr)

Picture: Marianne J.