Life

YMCA seeks women for weight loss study

By Bill Moss, Published: December 8, 2012

The Hendersonville Family YMCA is seeking 55 females between the ages of 20 and 60 to participate in a free weight-loss study.

Participants must have a BMI (body mass index) between 30 and 40 and not be exercising regularly. Exclusions from the study include current or planned pregnancy, taking medication for weight loss, psychological disorders, medical problems affecting eating, weight or metabolism or where calorie or fat restriction is a problem.
When they start, participants will come into the YMCA to be weighed and have their body mass calculated. They will receive a book, The LEARN Program for Weight Management, and will speak with a coach every two weeks for six months. LEARN stands for Lifestyle Exercise Attitudes Relationships Nutrition.
"They will chat with their coach every two weeks and discuss how it made them feel," YMCA Healthy Living Director Rachel Heath said. The researchers "wanted to see what happens when they just get the information."
The participants will visit the Y again at week 12 and at week 24 to be weighed. At the end of six months, they will be finished with the reading and will no longer have the visits with their coach over the phone.
The entire study lasts two years. Participants visit the YMCA at the end of the first year and at the end of the second year to be weighed.

For more information or to sign up contact Rachel Heath, Healthy Living Director of the YMCA, at 692-5774 or rheath@ymcawnc.org.