Weight loss apps no better at helping shed pounds than pamphlets

This a photograph of screens from one of the weight loss apps. (credit: Duke Medicine)

Relying on a smartphone-based strategy to lose weight may be the wrong call, a new study finds.

After a two-year trial, young adults (aged 18 to 35) who used one of two phone-centered methods to trim their waistlines fared no better at chucking the chub than a control group—who received three handouts on exercise and healthy eating. The findings, reported in the journal Obesity, cast doubt that popular weight loss apps will alone offer significant help in curbing health problems in this vulnerable age group, the authors concluded.

A little over a third of young adults are obese, the authors note. And weight gain in this age window can set people up for lifelong health battles, including a 20-fold higher risk of developing a metabolic syndrome, which can lead to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

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