UVM research was highlighted at the Nov. 14-18 American Association of the Study of Obesity conference in Las Vegas, which was attended by more than 1,800 scientists and clinicians.
Jean Harvey-Berino and Beth Casey Gold presented a much-talked about study of the UVM pilot online diet program VTrim. The report found that the program helped participants lose an average of 21 pounds in six months more than twice as much as those using the commercial weight-loss Website eDiets.com.
I felt like it was a win-win result, says lead researcher Gold, clinical coordinator of UVMs Weight Management program. While the VTrim program was far more successful than eDiets.com, the group on eDiets, which is a less expensive program to run, still lost an average of 9 pounds in six months. Our research clearly showed that its possible to run a successful weight-loss program on the Internet.
Another UVM study set out to replicate a study suggesting that eating a diet high in dairy products would help people to lose weight. But the study contradicted that data, finding the high-dairy diet was no more effective than a high-quality behavioral modification program including regular exercise.
This study, lead by Harvey-Berino, professor and chair of nutrition and food sciences, also contradicts the results of a similar trial, which has been promoting dairy products based upon the positive results. Our high-dairy group lost the same weight as the other high-dairy group, says Harvey-Berino, but individuals in our low-dairy group did a lot better than those in the first study.
Graduate student Nicci Micco presented the dairy research. Stephen Pintauro and Paul Buzzell also contributed to the studies.
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