Cherry-Picking for Obesity Programs: Out of Season

Sierra Pacific Industries began a comprehensive weight management and obesity management program on February 1, 2006 with their chosen vendor, TrestleTree, Inc. TrestleTree provided an intense health coaching intervention for all 132 participants, regardless of a participant's diagnosed low motivation to change exercise or diet habits. Seventy percent of the participants lost weight, 15% had no weight change, and 15% gained weight. The average weight loss ranged from 19 pounds (11-month average participation) to 11 pounds (6-month average participation). The increase in the percent of people exercising at the minimum standard of 30 minutes, 3 times a week, increased from 5% to 20%, while the increase for those individuals exercising at a subminimum standard increased from 19% to 41%. Decreases in biometrics also were documented; blood pressure decreased from an average of 131/80 to 127/75, and fasting blood glucose decreased from 166 to 129. The program showed that meaningful outcomes in weight loss, biom...