A study by researchers at the University of South Carolina (USA) has shown that the microblogging platform Twitter could help many people lose weight . As reported by Brie Turner-McGrievy and her colleagues in the journal Translational Behavioral Medicine , participants in a weight loss program increase their chances of shedding excess pounds (and losing more weight) by using Twitter to report their progress to others who are trying too.
The research was based on a hundred obese men and women who were followed for 6 months. In addition to posting their "status" on Twitter, participants received a weekly podcast with useful information for their diet on nutrition and physical exercise. In total, 2,630 tweets were published during the experiment, of which 80% contained information about things that "worked" for users when it came to achieving the goal of losing weight. The rest of the tweets provided emotional support and self-esteem to the rest of the users. "Providing group support through social media can be an inexpensive way to reach large numbers of people who are overweight and obese and are genuinely interested in reaching a healthy weight," concludes Turner-McGrievy.
