Using the Pedometer and the Mandometer for Lifestyle Modification

Lifestyle modification is a significant element in most weight loss or weight management programs. Lifestyle changes can lead to new habits that enable a person to lose and control weight. The use of two instruments -- one old and one, relatively new -- might be key instruments that can prompt an individual to modify the two most important weight loss and weight management activities. The two instruments are the pedometer and the mandometer. The activities are eating and exercise.

The pedometer is a tool that can be used by an individual to give the individual an accounting of the distance traveled based on the number of steps taken. The pedometer is said to have been around for well over two hundred years. Although older pedometers were mechanical, today's pedometers are usually electronic. The instrument is usually attached to the belt of a walker, jogger, or runner, giving step-count information to the wearer.

Since most people engage in walking, jogging, or running to lose or control weight, the pedometer can encourage a person to add steps to his or her daily activities.

The mandometer is a tool that can help a person change the way he or she eats. The mandometer was developed by two researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. The instrument is a portable electronic scale that is connected to a small computer. The scale weighs the food, in a plate for example, before any food is eaten, and continues to calculate the rate of change in the weight of the food as a person eats from the plate. The rate of change is correlated with eating rate. And the device shows a graph of eating rate, giving off an alarm when the rate is too high, indicating that a person is eating too fast.

This alarm is an attention-getter that encourages the patient, with a too-high eating rate, to lower his or her rate. Lowering the eating rate can be important in weight management and weight control. Changing the way we eat food is an important lifestyle modification. And using the mandometer to monitor eating rates appears to be an effective way to motivate better eating habits.

So the pedometer and the mandometer are possibly two important tools for lifestyle modification for weight loss and weight control. Indeed, these tools might enable a person to increase exercise activity and decrease eating rate.

Therefore, weight loss centers should view these tools as important weapons in the overweight and obesity fight. Along with their existing inhouse services, a center could recommend these tools as methods for weight loss and weight control.

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Tags: strategic management, environmental scanning, bariatric marketing

Using Telemedicine to Modify Lifestyle for Weight Loss

In a November 25, 2009 blog post, we said that "telehealth has the potential to improve the treatment of obesity and obesity-related diseases such as diabetes." And we said that "telehealth devices may elevate the treatment of obesity by making it easier to modify lifestyle." Scientists at the University of Southern California lab are developing a wearable wireless monitoring device that may assist lifestyle modification for overweight and obese persons.

In the blog post mentioned above, we cited the Free Dictionary definition of telehealth as "the use of telecommunication technologies to provide health care services and access to medical and surgical information for training and educating health care professionals and consumers, to increase awareness and educate the public about health-related issues, and to facilitate medical research across distances." Well, telemedicine is a subset of telehealth. And the above-mentioned wearable device is a telemedicine device.

In the University of Southern California lab experiment, the monitoring device was used to detect what the teenagers ate and did while wearing the device. The device's output is sent via cell phone to the researchers. Because the information received by the researchers does not depend on self-reporting, the information is likely more accurate that self-reported information. Self-reported information is often inaccurate.

The wearable sensor sends the lab reports on such things as heart rate and physical activity. There are other devices that actually track calories burned. And, still, other devices are in development that may record video for further study. All these devices might allow weight loss and weight management counselors to have a better idea of what a client is doing. And this can enable a counselor to better personalize a weight loss or weight management program for a client, enabling the client to successfully modify a lifestyle.

The counselor can collect results, determine the appropriate weight program, or modify an existing program. The counselor can then determine what diet is most appropriate and what physical activity might be the most effective.

We think these telemedicine monitoring devices could be a important tool for weight loss and weight management. Bariatric or weight loss centers should keep abreast of these tools. Indeed, including some of these items in its arsenal may allow a bariatric or weight loss center to improve its weight loss services.

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Tags: environmental scanning, strategic management, strategic planning, bariatric center, weight loss center

Obesity Gives Rise to Disability

Disability is on the rise among the elderly who don't reside in elder care facilities. According to a recent study, one of the reasons for this rise in disability is the rise in obesity. Indeed, there is a link between obesity and disability. But if more people adopt healthy living habits, this adoption could lower the levels of obesity, and thus lower the disability numbers.

The above-mentioned study was done by researchers from the University of Toronto, and the University of California at Berkeley. According to the study results, there has been a doubling of obesity over the past three decades. This doubling of obesity is associated with a rise in disability among those 65 and older. And many of these older persons are poor.

Of course, obesity-fighting treatments should be made available to all socioeconomic groups. This is especially true for the poor elderly. We believe that if this group is given access to obesity-fighting services, this group could make lifestyle changes that might lower obesity rates, and thus reduce disability levels. For this reason, we hope the current health care overall being debated will create a workable health care system.

A workable health care system would bring more of the poor elderly into the health care system. And these new entrants would increase the market for weight-loss tools, since losing weight is viewed as a way to address many health problems -- including disability.

The rise in obesity-related ailments is already an inducement to bariatric centers to refine their weight loss services. The rise in disability should be an additional motivator for these centers. Weight loss centers should emphasize the importance of a healthy weight in dealing with disability.

Weight loss centers should also prepare for the potential enactment of the health care overall. While there may be an assortment of problems with the reform under review, a workable health care system will widen the market for weight loss services. And this could benefit some weight loss centers, by giving the centers the opportunity to offer their weight loss services to more clients.

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Tags: environmental scanning, strategic management, strategic planning, health care

Gastric Bypass and Adjustable Lap Band May Be Cost Effective for Treating Type 2 Diabetes

As we've all heard, today, more and more U.S. citizens are succumbing to diabetes. Furthermore, Type 2 diabetes among children is increasing. Some forms of bariatric surgery are being viewed as a viable treatment for Type 2 diabetes. Studies show that in more than two thirds of the study subjects with Type 2 diabetes, the disease was either gone or easier to control after weight loss surgery. And recent research indicates that gastric bypass surgery and the adjustable lap band are more cost effective in treating Type 2 diabetes than conventional diabetes treatment methods for persons with a BMI greater than or equal to 35.

We've noted before that some experts feel that bariatric surgery can be used for more than just weight loss. Indeed, the American Society for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS) changed its name to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) to recognize non-weight-loss applications of gastric bypass surgery.

And the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center has started treating Type 2 diabetes using a modified version of the gastric bypass surgery used for weight loss. In the modified version of the surgery, nothing is done to shrink the stomach; only the small intestine is rerouted.

Using bariatric surgery to treat diabetes, no doubt, will receive more attention. And if it turns out that the surgery is a good, cost effective treatment for diabetes, the surgical option will become an important surgical service that bariatric surgical centers can offer.

Another item that favors surgery as a reasonable option for treating diabetes is research showing that insulin treatment for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes causes some patients to gain weight. Gaining weight can be a negative factor in cardiovascular disease.

So depending on how viable the utilization of bariatric surgery is for treating diabetes, compared to insulin use, it may be reasonable, in some cases, to consider bariatric surgery for the treatment of diabetes for economical reasons.

Bariatric or weight loss centers should stay abreast of activities associated with the use of bariatric surgery for the treatment of diabetes. It might turn out that offering this treatment could give a weight loss or bariatric center a competitive advantage and help to lower the health care costs associated with Type 2 diabetes.

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Tags: environmental scanning, strategic management, bariatric marketing, strategic planning

The Importance of Gut Bacteria in Weight Control

In a 2008 study at The Washington University St. Louis Medical School, researchers indicated that trillions of bacteria live in our gut. These bacteria perform specific activities, including the extraction of calories from food and the management of nutrients. And while the bacteria are common to all people, each individual has a unique set of the bacteria. A more recent study done at Washington University showed that the composition of the bacteria plays an important role in weight control.

Working with mice, the researchers found that obese persons had more of the bacteria called Firmicutes in their gut, and fewer of the bacteria called Bacteroidetes. Firmicutes are associated with obesity and Bacteroidetes are associated with leanness. Furthermore, diet played a significant role in the number of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in the mice gut. Those mice who were fed a low-fat diet had more Bacteroidetes and less Firmicutes than the mice who were fed the high-fat diet.

Since diet plays an important role in the composition of gut bacteria in mice, there is a high probability that diet plays a significant role in the human gut bacteria composition. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes also populate the human gut. The above mentioned studies provide more evidence that diet is the significant factor in controlling weight.

Of course, more study will enable the researchers to determine exactly what diets best control these bacteria in humans. This determination could lead to the creation of of more effective diets.

Organizations that provide meal replacements should be especially interested in creating more effective diets. Therefore, these organizations should be interested in the above mentioned studies. Understanding gut bacteria that function in the body to influence obesity or leanness might enable meal replacement producers to manufacture better diet products. And bariatric or weight loss centers could offer these improved diet products as part of their weight loss services.

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Tags: environmental scanning, bariatric strategic management, bariatric marketing, bariatric business intelligence

Governments Fight Obesity

Some experts believe that the government must play a large role in the fight against obesity. For example, the government can put pressure on neighborhood designers to get them to create plans that provide for more walking and bike paths in neighborhoods. These plans could put grocery stores, and other frequented neighborhood sites within a reasonable walking distance of residential areas. The government could also emphasize the importance of fighting obesity. And, fortunately, governments are becoming more proactive in the fight against obesity.

The U.S. federal government has indicated that it will increase funding to fight obesity. Further, the government has indicated that one of the important elements in the overhaul of the current health care system would be an initiative to boost the consumption of more nutritious food.

In addition to the federal government's increased activity in the fight against obesity, state governments are joining the fight. The Virginia state government has completed legislation to change the name of the "Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation" to the "Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth." With the name change, the organization broadens its mission to fight childhood obesity, in addition to smoking.

In Ohio, the state government is working on legislation for "healthy choices for healthy children." The legislation will promote increased physical activity, physical education, and enhance the nutritional value of the food children eat in school.

As we can see, attention is being given to childhood obesity by governments. Although the federal or a local government can take action to combat childhood obesity, the fight against childhood obesity must begin in the home. And parents have the greatest influence on a child during the child's childhood.

Since obesity can be an impediment to future success, parents should be interested in joining the obesity fight. Bariatric or weight loss centers could work with parents in the community to educate them on the best procedures to use to help children maintain a healthy weight. This collaboration could help the community, and enhance a weight loss center’s local reputation.

Indeed, collaboration between weight loss centers and governments -- federal, state and local -- might be one of the best ways to beat overweight and obesity during childhood and adulthood.

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environmental scanning, strategic management, competitive analysis, strategic planning

Telehealth in the Obesity Fight

According to the Free Dictionary, telehealth may be defined as "the use of telecommunication technologies to provide health care services and access to medical and surgical information for training and educating health care professionals and consumers, to increase awareness and educate the public about health-related issues, and to facilitate medical research across distances." Telehealth has the potential to improve the treatment of obesity and obesity-related diseases such as diabetes.

A recent study was done in Ottawa Canada to determine the effectiveness of telehealth for home health care. In the study, literature was analyzed to compare the benefits of treating diabetes using telehealth versus treating diabetes using common diabetes treatment procedures. It was found that patients who received treatment via telehealth had a higher quality of life, and experienced less hospitalization than diabetes patients receiving the normal diabetes treatment.

Although the leaders of the Canadian study indicated that more research needs to be done, as stated above, telehealth improved quality-of life and reduced hospitalizations. The use of telehealth also improved glycemic control and patient satisfaction.

A 2008 study was done in the United States to establish the effectiveness of telehealth in treating obesity. Three weight loss programs were compared. These programs were telehealth, traditional classes, and no program. The study looked at the amount of weight participants regained in each program. The study also assessed a participants' satisfaction with a given program, and the convenience of a program for the participants. Participants in the telehealth program lost slightly more weight than participants in the other two programs.

However, the difference in weight loss was not enormous. But the telehealth group found the telehealth program to be more convenient. And convenience is important in trying to modify a lifestyle. If one program is more convenient to follow than another, a person is more likely to follow the more convenient program.

Some companies are focusing on telehealth. One of these companies is Washington, D.C. based Telcare. Telcare is a medical devices company specializing in health information technology using cellular technology. In 2009, Tel care won the 'best in show' award for a telehealth device at the MoveTechFest Americas conference. The conference was held in Santa Clara, California.

Telcare's device works like a glucose meter. And the device wirelessly transmits diabetic information between the diabetic patient and medical professionals. The device is easy for the patient to use, it reduces complications, and the device may reduce the costs of diabetes by as much as 37%. There are plans to use the device to manage obesity, as well as other chronic diseases.

Therefore, this telehealth device, as well as other telehealth devices, may elevate the treatment of obesity by making it easier to modify lifestyle. Bariatric industry providers should pay close attention to telehealth methodology for fighting obesity.

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