Behavior Change and Health News
A Food Diary: An Important Self-Monitoring Tool
According to researchers from the Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research, maintaining a food diary is a vital self-monitoring tool that can help people lose weight. The study found that 1,685 middle-aged men and women who kept a food diary lost twice as much weight over a six-month period than those who did not keep a food diary.
Using a food diary for self-monitoring purposes is a popular activity in many weight-loss and nutrition programs, including Healthy Eating Every Day.
Victor Stevens, one of the researchers at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research, says, “For those who are working on weight loss, just writing down everything you eat is a pretty powerful technique. It helps participants see where the extra calories are coming from and then develop more specific plans to deal with those situations.”
Dieters from the study lost an average of 13 pounds. However, people who maintained a food diary six or seven days a week lost approximately 18 pounds, while those who did not maintain a food diary lost only 9 pounds. Average age of participants was 55. Forty-four percent of the study participants were African American, a population that has a higher risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease compared to Caucasians.
Dr. Keith Bachman, another researcher at Kaiser Permanente, stated, “Keeping a food diary doesn’t have to be a formal thing. Just the act of scribbling down what you eat on a Post-It note, sending yourself e-mails tallying each meal, or sending yourself a text message will suffice.”
Do you want to help people in your worksite, community, or religious group learn more about self-monitoring and healthy eating? Healthy Eating Every Day helps adults assess their current dietary patterns and learn ways of improving their diets. Healthy Eating Every Day uses evidence-based behavior change tools such as learning to set short- and long-term goals, identifying barriers, and overcoming relapses to help people maintain healthy behaviors. Another important component of Healthy Eating Every Day is self-monitoring. Participants learn to monitor their caloric intake in a variety of ways, including paper-and-pencil and online food diaries. Please contact Bhibha Das at 800-747-4457 ext. 2455 for more information about Healthy Eating Every Day.
Sources:
HealthDay. July 8, 2008. Keep a Food Diary, Lose Twice as Much Weight.
NewsWise Medical News. June 24, 2008. Keeping a Food Diary Doubles Diet Weight Loss
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