1. ¹Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
2. ²The Miriam Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
3. ³Psychology Department, Baruch College, CUNY, New York, New York, USA
4. ⁴Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
5. ⁵Department of Psychology, Center for Health, Intervention and Prevention, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA

Correspondence: Rena R. Wing (rwing@lifespan.org)

Received 31 July 2008; Accepted 7 December 2008; Published online 29 January 2009.

Abstract

Given the epidemic of obesity, approaches to weight loss that can be applied on a community, state, or national level are needed. We report results from Shape Up Rhode Island 2007 (SURI), a statewide Internet-based program involving team-based competition to increase physical activity and achieve weight loss. A total of 4,717 adults (84% women; mean BMI = 29.6 kg/m²) enrolled in the 16-week weight loss competition of SURI and 3,311 completed at least 12 weeks. Completers reported losing 3.2 3.4 kg, and 30% achieved a clinically significant weight loss of 5%. Although modest, these weight losses shifted the BMI distribution from a mean BMI of 29.4 to a mean of 28.2 kg/m² and reduced the population that was obese from 39 to 31%. More conservative intent-to-treat analyses and analysis of 132 participants with objective weights still showed a significant reduction in BMI of -0.8 units. These findings suggest that statewide weight loss campaigns can produce modest weight losses in large numbers of participants. These data provide a benchmark that can be used for comparisons with other statewide campaigns. Research on ways to improve such campaigns is needed.