A growing body of evidence indicates that Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is protective against malignant conversion by inhibition of DNA replication in human cancer cell growth in vitro. Consumption of Stevia has demonstrated to be generally safe in most reports. Further clinical studies are warranted to determine if regular consumption brings sustained benefits for human health.

Objective. To explore anthropometric changes in normal-weight, overweight and obese subjects who did not dropout or fail a weight loss program over the 16 treatment weeks to improve patient motivation and treatment adherence.Methods. A clinical intervention study was conducted among 271 (including 100 dropouts and/or failures) obese and overweight patients who consulted a nutrition clinic in Barranquilla (Colombia) for the purpose of nutritional assessment. They were subject to a personalized weekly follow-up consultation over the course of 16 weeks in which initial and the final Body Mass Index (BMI, kg/m2), photographs, food consumption patterns, percentage weight loss, waist and hip circumference were registered and grouped according to BMI, measuring treatment response. Data’s nonparametric statistical comparison was made.Results. In 62 patients from the BMI < 25 group, there is weight loss of 2.6% (3.1 SD), 5.5% (3.3 SD) in waist circumference and 3.0% (2.5 SD) in hip circumference. In 67 patients from the 25 ≥ BMI < 30 group, there is weight loss of 3.8% (4.1 SD), 5.7% (4.5 SD) in waist circumference loss and 3.7% (3.0 SD) in hip circumference loss. In 42 patients from the BMI > 30 group, there is weight loss of 4.8% (3.7 SD), 7.0% (3.6 SD) in waist circumference loss and 3.9% (2.4 SD) in hip circumference loss. Monitoring is done every 4 weeks by the Friedman test, with significant differences between the three groups (p < 0.001). Patients do not drop out of treatment because they start to see physical results in waist decrease. When comparing final values of initial waist/hip circumference ratios and waist/height ratios, a clear decrease in the three BMI groups was observed (p < 0.001).Conclusion. After three weeks of continuous treatment patients improved in all overweight and obesity parameter indicators; there were not statistically significant differences in hip circumference (HC) and waist loss (WC) (%) among the three BMI groups (normal-weight, overweight, and obesity). In contrast, there were statistically significant differences in weight loss (%) and waist-to-hip ratios. Based on anthropometric outcomes and patient perception of their body image it can be concluded that the waist circumference loss is the parameter that retains obese patients in the weight loss program.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of telenutrition versus traditional nutritional consultation for obese patients. Conclusion: Telenutrition has a failure or dropout risk factor about half values of traditional consultation with slightly statistically significant differences. This study concludes that telenutrition can support or sometimes replace the traditional consultation when developing weight loss programs in obese women. Methods

new research is needed that clearly values causality in the Colombian population.

Objective. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of telenutrition versus traditional nutritional consultations for female obese patients in need of nutritional treatment.Methods. A comparative clinical study was conducted among 233 obese or overweight women (including 20 who dropped out and 60 who failed) who consulted a nutrition clinic in Barranquilla (Colombia) for nutritional assessment and chose either telenutrition or a traditional consultation that included a weekly follow-up consultation over 16 weeks, food consumption patterns, Body Mass Index (BMI, kg/m2) registeration and waist and hip circumference registeration. Treatment responses and differences between telenutrition and the traditional consultations were made according to BMI, waist, hip and initial-waist/height ratio (iWaist), calculating for the relative risk.Results. In 68 (29.2%) women who chose traditional attention, 9 (37.5%) dropped out, 24 (40%) failed and 35 (23.5%) were successful, showing 1.4% (1.0 SD) BMI loss, 5.8% (3.4 SD) in waist circumference, 4.5% (2.8 SD) in hip circumference and 0.04% (0.02 SD) in iWaist/height ratio. In 165 (70.8%) women who chose telenutrition, 15 (62.5%) dropped out, 36 (60%) failed and 114 (76.5%) were successful, showing 1.1% (1.0 SD) BMI loss, 5.0% (3.2 SD) in waist circumference, 3.5% (3.1 SD) in hip circumference and 0.03% (0.02 SD) in iWaist/height ratio. A significance level of p < 0.05 is considered.Conclusion. Telenutrition has a failure or dropout risk factor of about half of the value of traditional consultation, and showed slight, statistically significant differences. This study concludes that telenutrition can support or sometimes replace traditional consultations when developing weight loss programs for obese women.