News: Man's Best Friends Help in Weight Loss

[Guest guest]

Comments?

Misty L. Trepke

http://www..com

 

THURSDAY, Oct. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Letting yourself go to the dogs

may help you lose weight.

 

 

A University of Missouri-Columbia study says that having a dog can

help people get more exercise and lose weight.

 

 

" Our goal was to look for ways to increase the average exercise

regimen, and we found being responsible for a pet, such as committing

to walk a loaner dog, encouraged people who did not own dogs to walk

more often and for longer periods of time. Our first study group

averaged a weight loss of 14 pounds during the one-year program, "

researcher Rebecca Johnson, an associate professor of nursing and

director of the College of Veterinary Medicine's Research Center for

Human-Animal Interaction, said in a prepared statement.

 

 

That 14 pounds of weight loss over a year is better than results

reported by major weight-loss plans, Johnson noted.

 

 

The study included disadvantaged, disabled people who were encouraged

to walk dogs on a regular schedule. The participants began by walking

with the dogs 10 minutes per day, three times a week, and eventually

walked the dogs up to 20 minutes per day, five times a week.

 

 

Johnson's next study will involve people taking pets to the gym to

see if the presence of pets as support companions can increase a

person's self-esteem and get them to do other exercises along with

walking.