Podcasts may help with weight loss
Successful weight loss may be just a podcast away.
But what’s on that podcast could make the difference between losing a modest amount of weight and losing next to none, according to a new study out of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Researchers used two types of podcasts to see which was more effective at helping 78 overweight and obese men and women shed pounds over 12 weeks.
Participants were randomly divided into two groups. The control group listened to a popular weight-loss podcast currently on the market. The study group listened to a weight-loss podcast based on social cognitive theory, the belief that some learning can come from emulating the behavior of those we want to be like; it included an audio journal of someone else trying to lose weight, on whom they could model their behavior.
After three months, the study group lost an average 6.4 pounds and one point in their body mass index. The control group lost an average of 0.7 pounds and lost 0.1 BMI point. The study appears online in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
