By WOSU's Steve Brown
A new study from researchers at Ohio State University suggests workplace health plans can have a big affect on helping employees lose weight.
The study took about 70 people with high blood sugar and divided them into two groups – one was involved in a group-based weight loss plan with weekly in-person discussions on exercise and diet. The other group was only given a pamphlet with pointers on losing weight. OSU nutrition professor Carla Miller is the study’s lead author.
“The group that got the educational program lost about 5.5 percent of their baseline weight, which means that lowered their risk for Type 2 diabetes, as well as a lot of the other health complications.”
Miller says the first few weeks of a group-based health plan are critical. She says study participants who had the best early results also showed some of the best long-term results.