With obesity a growing epidemic in the United States as well as much of the world, diet plans are increasing in popularity. More than one-third of U.S. adults are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and many of them are looking to programs like Weight Watchers to combat growing waistlines. In Weight Watchers, members use a patented points system to monitor food intake as well as exercise.
History
The Weight Watchers point system was introduced in 1997 in the company's "1, 2, 3 Success" program. Previously, plan members had used a system of diet exchanges to monitor their food intake. The points system, patented in 1996, was revolutionary in the sense that it was no longer necessary to count calories but instead relied on a formula based on calories, fat and fiber to create a point value for every food.
Evolution
The original points plan allotted users a range of points each day based on body weight. For example, someone who weighed less than 150 pounds would eat between 18 and 25 points each day. Any unused points could be "banked" and used on another day during the week. Over the years the plan evolved, and current "Momentum" plan members get a set number of points based on age, weight, gender and regular physical activity, ensuring a much more accurate calculation. All members get 35 "weekly points," which can be used at any time during the week.
Science
The points system's basis is the simple fact, supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Dietary Guidelines for Americans, that the only way to lose weight is for the body to take in fewer calories than it burns. The points system ensures this, while at the same time simplifying the calorie-counting equation. According to the Weight Watcher's points patent, it's easier for people to deal with numbers in the low tens than numbers in the thousands.
Calculations
Members of Weight Watchers get a tracker that calculates the points in their food by setting the slider to equal the number of calories, fat grams and fiber grams. The fiber grams are capped at four, meaning if a food has eight grams of fiber, only four are entered into the calculation---this was a later addition to the program because extremely high-fiber foods would end up with a points value of zero even if the calories per serving were significant.
Activity Points
Another way of ensuring its members stay healthy is the addition of activity points. Weight Watchers members can earn activity points through a variety of exercises and other daily activities. Those points then substitute out, as necessary, for overages in food points consumed. Activity points are used after the weekly point allowance has been used up, so a person with a daily point allowance of 25 who earned three activity points and ate 62 points one day would use first her 25 daily points, then her 35 weekly points, and then two of her three activity points. Through activity points, Weight Watcher members maintain adherence to the "calories in, calories out" system for weight loss.
Member Comments