How stepping on the weighing scale can actually help you lose weight

Losing weight and maintaining that weight can be as simple as simple as stepping on a weighing scale every morning and noting down the results on a notepad or better still, a spreadsheet.

A two-year-long study conducted by Cornell University in the US found that individuals who lost weight in the first year of the programme were able to maintain that lost weight throughout the second year also by merely following this simple strategy.

In the study, 162 persons were randomly separated into an intervention group and a control group. Individuals in the intervention group were first given a target of one per cent weight loss, which they could lose in any manner they chose.

Once they maintained that weight loss for ten days, the programme then gave them a new target to lose another one percent, and so on. The goal was to lose a total of ten per cent of their starting body weight.

The researchers believe that stepping on a scale and tracking one's weight on a regular basis acts as a reinforcement for some behaviours, such as eating less, and it strengthens others such as going for a walk in order to maintain body weight.

Explaining the findings, professor of nutrition and psychology at the university, David Levitsky, said "We think the weighing scale also acts as a priming mechanism, making you conscious of food and enabling you to make choices that are consistent with your weight".

A scientific paper on the findings of the study has been published in a recent issue of Journal of Obesity, a prestigious scientific journal.

"You just need a bathroom scale and an excel spreadsheet. Even a piece of graph paper will do. The method forces you to be aware of the connection between your eating and your weight," said Dr Levitsk, who is a senior author of the scientific paper.

Ironically, the study found a significant difference between men and women, with women losing weight on the programme, but far less than the men. The researchers were, however, not able to figure out as to why it was so.

"It seems to work better for men than women, (but) for reasons we cannot figure out yet," Dr Levitsky said.

Obesity and being overweight is one of the major problems which have been drawing the attention of health experts across the world in recent years. According to estimates of the World Health Organisation, worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980 and that 39 per cent of adults (those aged 18 years and above) in the world were overweight.

In India, experts fear that obesity has already reached epidemic proportions, with morbid obesity affecting five per cent of the country's population. Unhealthy, processed food has become much more accessible following India's continued integration in global food markets. This, combined with rising middle class incomes, is increasing the average caloric intake per individual among the middle class and above income households. Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and government and NGOs have been raising awareness about this issue.