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Press Release: First Fully Mobile Diabetes Prevention Program Proved Successful in a Peer-Reviewed Study.

by | Sep 8, 2016 | Last updated Mar 24, 2023

A new peer-reviewed study published in British Medical Journal Open Diabetes Research & Care found that Noom’s diabetes prevention program helped 64% percent of completers lose more than 5 percent of their weight. Results were comparable to the CDC findings from the traditional diabetes prevention program and far more successful than other virtual DPP providers. This is the first clinically proven fully mobile diabetes prevention program.

The research, published today in British Medical Journal Open Diabetes Research & Care, studied prediabetes participants from a large northeast insurance payer. Weight loss at 16 and 24 weeks was significant, with 64 percent of completers losing more than 5 percent of their body weight and 33 percent of completers losing more than 10 percent of their body weight.

“The research from the mobile DPP found the positive effects of food logging, consistent weight checks and coaching relationships were consistent to the same effects seen from research conducted with an in-person DPP. These results demonstrate there is an opportunity for employers and payers to significantly reduce their healthcare costs by implementing mobile behavior change programs like Noom’s diabetes prevention program. It has comparable results to the CDC’s in-person DPP without the high cost or the difficulty in recruiting. It’s a game changer.”

DR. ANDREAS MICHAELIDES, PH.D., CHIEF OF PSYCHOLOGY AT NOOM

Participants regularly logged their meals and tracked their weight, and with accessible human coaches, participants became more engaged through other in-app behaviors, such as posting messages to their group, which promoted social support and favored weight loss.

The study showed participants were highly engaged, with 84 percent completing the program and a 24 week mean weight loss of 7.5 percent for those who completed the program. Noom’s program kept participants engaged with their custom content and readily accessible human coaches and support groups.

Additionally, participants took advantage of Noom’s proprietary food database with more than 2.5 million unique food portion pairs to log all their meals — a key component of the diabetes prevention program. This highlights the importance of providing individuals enrolled in a diabetes prevention program with an extensive food database and ability to log meals with ease, along with the social support to maximize logging behavior.

According to the CDC, 86 million Americans or 1 in 3 adults have prediabetes.  The total cost of diagnosed diabetes is $245 billion. The traditional in-person diabetes prevention program  requires that participants attend scheduled weekly face to face meetings. This model faces challenges of flexibility and accessibility, making it difficult to realistically address the millions with prediabetes. Noom’s program has profound implications for diabetes prevention on a large scale by meeting people where they are — on their mobile phones.

“The research from the mobile DPP found the positive effects of food logging, consistent weight checks and coaching relationships were consistent to the same effects seen from research conducted with an in-person DPP,” said Dr. Andreas Michaelides, Ph.D., Noom’s chief of psychology. “These results demonstrate there is an opportunity for employers and payers to significantly reduce their healthcare costs by implementing mobile behavior change programs like Noom’s diabetes prevention program.  It has comparable results to the CDC’s in-person DPP without the high cost or the difficulty in recruiting.  It’s a game changer.”

To read the full report, please click here.

About Noom, Inc.

Noom Inc., a leader in mobile health coaching, combines the power of technology with the empathy of real human coaches to deliver successful behavior change at scale. Noom’s direct-to-consumer weight loss and exercise tracking mobile applications have reached more than 45 million users worldwide. Leveraging the success of their ground-breaking health and fitness programs, Noom developed a behavior change platform to treat chronic and pre-chronic conditions, beginning with the CDC’s Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). On the first day the CDC began recognizing mobile and online DPP providers, Noom was there. Since then, Noom has expanded its curricula across the acuity spectrum and now features programs for pre-hypertension, hypertension and diabetes management in addition to its flagship weight loss and diabetes prevention programs. Noom has offices in New York City, Seoul and Tokyo.