by Tara Schmidt, Lead Dietician at the Mayo Clinic Diet
Lifestyle changes are the foundation of weight management. They have been shown to be effective in both the prevention and treatment of obesity, which is linked to multiple disease states. An individual’s adherence and response to said changes, however, is highly variable. Many dieters find themselves caught in a cycle of yo-yo dieting or weight-cycling, both of which have negative health implications. One important key to success is finding what works on an individual basis. This may include a specific eating style, means accountability, self-monitoring tools, or an enjoyable exercise routine.
Advancements in technology have significantly expanded the options available to at-home dieters and those wanting to make significant lifestyle changes. While in-person education and support may be a preferred option for some, financial, time, and referral barriers can make this type of care difficult to access.
The Mayo Clinic Diet is a weight management program designed by experts at the Mayo Clinic, offering both in-person and digital-only offerings. In 2024, a team from the Precision Medicine for Obesity Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester completed a retrospective comparison of both programs. The group looked at over 9,000 adult participants with a body mass index of at least 25 kg/m2 who had participated in either the lifestyle (in-person) intervention or the online (digital) platform.
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The program, designed to promote long-term health and well-being, emphasizes a balanced, sustainable approach to weight loss, focusing on longer term lifestyle changes rather than quick fixes or extreme dietary changes. The diet is grounded in principles of healthy eating, portion regulation, regular physical activity, and behavior change techniques. Ongoing support is available from program features including written nutrition content, weekly emails, regular webinars, recipes for the meal plans, habit tracker for the Lose It phase, food tracker with keyword search and barcode functionality, activity tracker that can be linked with a device, weight tracker with the ability to link with a wireless weight scale, and support from a private Facebook group.
Individuals can choose from six different meal plans: Simple, Original, Mediterranean, Higher Protein, Healthy Keto, and Vegetarian. Meals are designed around a template of standard servings, which ensures daily recommendations of food groups are met and provide optimal nutrition and energy intake to promote healthy weight loss. The Mayo Clinic Diet is recommended by doctors to improve health conditions linked with excess weight such as cardiovascular disease, inflammation, and type II diabetes.
Both types of interventions can be effective for weight management, but the growing availability and accessibility of digital tools offer the potential to increase engagement without adding to costs. Within the analysis, both interventions were derived from the principles of the Mayo Clinic Diet. This occurred in intervals of one, three, and six months, however, participants who utilized the online-only platform achieved superior weight loss, and more participants reached clinically significant weight loss milestones as compared to the in-person group.
Digital tools can help older adults achieve meaningful weight loss and improved health outcomes by increasing their access to elements of education, meal planning, exercise, lifestyle improvement, and community and expert support. These types of interventions do not downplay or negate the need for in-person clinical care, but can be used as a bridge before, between, and after interventions.
This article is a sponsored post: a summary of “Efficacy of in-person versus digital enhanced lifestyle interventions in adults with overweight and obesity” by Anazco, D., Espinosa, M. A., Cifuentes, L., Kassmeyer, B., Schmidt, T. M., Fansa, S., … & Acosta, A. (2024). Efficacy of in-person versus digital enhanced lifestyle interventions in adults with overweight and obesity. Obesity Pillars, 12, 100133.
