Weight outcomes audit in 1.3 million adults during their first 3 months' attendance in a commercial weight management programme

Background: Over sixty percent of adults in the UK are now overweight/obese. Weight management on a national scale requires behavioural and lifestyle solutions that are accessible to large numbers of people. Evidence suggests commercial weight management programmes help people manage their weight but there is little research examining those that pay to attend such programmes rather than being referred by primary care. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of a UK commercial weight management programme in self-referred, fee-paying participants. Methods: Electronic weekly weight records were collated for self-referred, fee-paying participants of Slimming World groups joining between January 2010 and April 2012. This analysis reports weight outcomes in 1,356,105 adult, non-pregnant participants during their first 3 months’ attendance. Data were analysed by regression, ANOVA and for binomial outcomes, chi-squared tests using the R statistical program. Results: Mean (SD) age was 42.3 (13.6) years, height 1.65 m (0.08) and start weight was 88.4 kg (18.8). Mean start BMI was 32.6 kg/m² (6.3 kg/m²) and 5 % of participants were men. Mean weight change of all participants was −3.9 kg (3.6), percent weight change −4.4 (3.8), and BMI change was −1.4 kg/m² (1.3). Mean attendance was 7.8 (4.3) sessions in their first 3 months. For participants attending at least 75 % of possible weekly sessions (n = 478,772), mean BMI change was −2.5 kg/m² (1.3), weight change −6.8 kg (3.7) and percent weight change −7.5 % (3.5). Weight loss was greater in men than women absolutely (−6.5 (5.3) kg vs −3.8 (3.4) kg) and as a percentage (5.7 % (4.4) vs 4.3 % (3.7)), respectively. All comparisons were significant (p < 0.001). Level of attendance and percent weight loss in the first week of attendance together accounted for 55 % of the variability in weight lost during the study period. Conclusions: A large-scale commercial lifestyle-based weight management programme had a significant impact on weight loss outcomes over 3 months. Higher levels of attendance led to levels of weight loss known to be associated with significant clinical benefits, which on this scale may have an impact on public health

Space-time characteristics of micro-scale crime occurrences : an application of a network-based space-time search window technique for crime incidents in Chicago

This study investigates patterns of micro-scale concentrations of different types of crime using the network distance in the spatial, temporal and spatial-temporal dimensions to enable an accurate description of the micro-scale geospatial variation of crime incidents. It applies a recently developed hotspot detection method that uses a network-based space-time search window technique. The method is refined by adopting the false discovery rate controlling procedure for the multiple testing problem. Empirical analysis uses individual street-address records of robbery, burglary, drug and vehicle theft incidents in a high-crime neighbourhood of Chicago in the year 2000. The study revealed a fine-scale, street-address-level space-time signature for each type of crime. Drugs and robbery formed stable space-time hotspots in specific locations, highlighting their recurrent nature. Burglary was characterised by a small set of short-term outbursts across space and time, and vehicle thefts showed little sign of concentrations. Comparing these results against their spatial signature helped identify different types of hotspots such as persistent warm spots and a hotspot consisting of a short-term outburst.The result demonstrates the significance of the street-level analysis from the microscopic perspective, which can help form a more focused policing tactic

Beyond Liberals and Conservatives to Political Genotypes and Phenotypes

In the past, most political scientists have been oblivious to the growing empirical evidence challenging environmental determinism. Professor Charney, apparently as a result of the fact that genes and the environment interact in a complex fashion, advocates that this passive unawareness be replaced by active denial. Science, however, does not advance by avoiding important relationships merely because they are complicated and, fortunately, science is not heeding Charney’s ideologically-based fears. Molecular geneticists, often working in tandem with political scientists, are quickly moving beyond twin studies to identify the specific suites of genes and biological systems that predict variation in core political preferences, whatever labels those preferences might be given in a particular culture at a particular time.We sympathize with the fact that our empirical findings, like those of so many behavioral geneticists, make Charney uncomfortable; still, his critique serves up nothing new—empirically or otherwise. Just as analyses of the roots of sexual preferences cannot presumptively ignore genetics, neither can analyses of the roots of political preferences