weight loss news
NESTLÉ HEALTHCARE NUTRITION, INC., AND BODYMEDIA FORM STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO HELP WEIGHT LOSS PATIENTS IMPACT LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT
Pittsburgh, PA, July 01, 2008—Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition, Inc., and BodyMedia, Inc., have formed a strategic partnership to promote SenseWear® WMS to clinics using OPTIFAST®, Nestlé’s medically monitored weight loss program.
The OPTIFAST Program, offered in over 400 clinics nationwide, is one of the most comprehensive weight loss options available and has been clinically proven in more than 80 studies. Participants completing a 22-week program lost an average of 52 pounds and saw an average decrease of 15 percent in cholesterol, 29 percent in blood glucose and 10 percent in blood pressure. The OPTIFAST program combines support and counseling, lifestyle education, and medical monitoring with meal replacements to help people lose weight and reduce weight-related health risks. A team of dedicated medical professionals provide support to participants during each phase of the program.
“We are very eager to make SenseWear WMS available to our customers and their participants,” said Sean Foster, vice president of marketing, Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition. “It’s the perfect fit. Combining OPTIFAST and SenseWear enables weight loss clinics to offer the OPTIFAST meal replacement programs with comprehensive lifestyle education through personal body monitoring. We feel strongly that these complementary solutions will help patients lose weight, while allowing them to truly understand what it takes to achieve calorie balance while using personal data to assist in keeping the weight off.”
SenseWear WMS gives health professionals a powerful tool to teach patients how their day-to-day activity, nutrition and sleep habits help or hinder weight loss progress. SenseWear WMS consists of an armband, display and Web site that allow both professional and patient to see how many calories they really burn, how many they really consume and how well they really sleep, every day. The solution promotes patient self-care and enables practitioners to offer short-term metabolic and lifestyle assessments as well as more effective and educational weight-management programs.
“BodyMedia is very excited to work with the global leader in healthcare nutrition,” said Tom Futch, vice president of sales and marketing for BodyMedia. “We are confident that by combining these two world-class offerings, patients will see improved and sustained weight loss.”
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About Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition
Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition, part of Nestlé Nutrition, offers complete nutritional solutions for people with specific illnesses, disease states or the special challenges of different life stages. Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition was formed from the combination of Novartis Medical Nutrition, acquired by Nestlé in 2007, and the existing Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition business. The company offers the most comprehensive range of nutritional support products in the marketplace.
Nestlé Nutrition helps to enhance the quality of life by supporting health and providing care for people with special nutrition needs at every stage of life. Nestlé Nutrition is built around four core businesses: Infant Nutrition, HealthCare Nutrition, Performance Nutrition and Weight Management. For more information about Nestlé Nutrition, please consult www.nestlenutrition.com.
About BodyMedia, Inc.
BodyMedia provides healthcare professionals and consumers with lifestyle monitoring tools for metabolic assessment and long-term weight loss programs. By increasing patient self-awareness of their true activity, nutrition and sleep habits, BodyMedia solutions educate and motivate individuals to modify their daily behavior, to be more active, and lose weight safely and effectively. For more information on SenseWear WMS contact the BodyMedia at 412-288-9901 or visit www.sensewear.com.
Nestlé Contact:
Carie Wlos
Public Relations Counselor
(608) 256-6357
cwlos@hiebing.com
BodyMedia Contact:
Chris Pacione
Director of Customer Marketing
(412) 543-1329
chrisp@bodymedia.com