Two years later in 1963, Nidetch established
Weight Watchers as a company and held her first
public meeting. Demand for her program far exceeded
expectations. Over the years the program evolved to
incorporate new research in nutrition. Behavior man-
agement modules and an exercise program were
added. In 1978 the company was bought by H. J.
Heinz Company, which added a line Weight Watchers
supermarket foods. Today Weight-Watcher endorsed
cookbooks, exercise tapes, and a magazine all are avail-
able to support dieters who are either Weight Watcher
members or who want to try the diet plan on their own.
DescriptionThe fundamental message of the Weight Watcher
program is ‘‘move more, eat less.‘‘ There is nothing
unique about this approach to dieting. What distin-
guishes the Weight Watchers program are the tools it
provides members to stay motivated to meet these
goals.
There are two ways to join Weight Watchers. The
traditional method is to attend weekly Weight Watch-
ers meetings. More than 29,000 meetings are held in
Weight Watchers centers, churches, hospitals, and work-
places each week in 27 different countries. Meetings
last about 50 minutes and are led by a trained Weight
Watcher member who has lost weight using the pro-
gram and has successfully kept the weight off.
Upon registering, members set their first goal as
losing 10% of their body weight. Once this goal is
reached, a final weight goal is selected based on the
individual’s height, age, and gender. In 2007, registra-
tion in the United States cost about $30 and weekly
meetings between $10 and $12, Discounts are avail-
able in the form of monthly passes, and each year
Weight Watchers offers at least one period when the
registration fee is waived. A bring-a-friend program
allows people to attend a meeting before signing up for
the program. Members can attend any meeting any-
where in the world and have the option of attending
more than one meeting each week at no additional
charge, but they can only be weighed once a week.
Weight Watchers Online is a program designed to
let people follow the Weight Watchers diet at home
without attending weekly meetings. The step-by-step
plan provides the same information as the in-person
plan, but lacks the support of and accountability to the
group. Weight Watches Online costs about half as
much as the in-person meetings.
Weight Watchers meetings are a combination of
nutrition education, behavior modification, and moti-
vational psychology. Weight Watchers diet plans have
evolved over the years. The current system gives mem-
bers a choice of two plans, he Flex Plan or the Core
Plan. The Flex Plan assigns a point value per serving to
every food. Points are based on the amount of calories,
dietaryfiber, and fat in the food. One point is roughly
equal to 50 calories. Written material and an online
database give the point value of most common foods.
A small cardboard Points Calculator that works some-
thing like an old-fashioned slide rule lets members
calculate the point value of any food based on nutrition
information on the product’s label. Dieters are
assigned a number of Daily Points. They may eat any-
thing they wish so long as they stay within their allotted
points. In reality, to follow the plan dieters must select
low calorie options—lean meats, lots of fruits and
vegetables, and reasonable helpings ofcarbohydrates.
Points are adequate for an occasional treat.
The Core Plan gives dieters a list of ‘‘core foods.’’
They may eat unlimited quantities (within reason) of
any of the core foods without weighing or measuring.
This simplifies shopping and food preparation, but
also reduces variety in the diet. A weekly points allow-
ance can be spent on foods that are not core foods.
Dieters are told to choose either the Flex Plan or the
Core Plan, but they may switch from one to the other
on a weekly basis.
Every Weight Watchers meeting has a behavioral
module. These modules help dieters uncover harmful
behaviors and suggest ways to correct them. For
instance, one module may deal with eating in response
to stress. Another might be on how to handle people
who want to sabotage your diet, challenges of eating
out, handling holiday meals, fitting exericse into dailyKEY TERMS
Cholesterol—a waxy substance made by the liver
and also acquired through diet. High levels in the
blood may increase the risk of cardiovascular
disease.
Dietary supplement—a product, such as a vitamin,
mineral, herb, amino acid, or enzyme, that is
intended to be consumed in addition to an individ-
ual’s diet with the expectation that it will improve
health
Type 2 diabetes—sometime called adult-onset dia-
betes, this disease prevents the body from properly
using glucose (sugar), but can often be controlled
with diet and exercise.Weight Watchers