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Weight Watchers, founded in the 1960s by Jean Nidetch, is a company offering various dieting products and services to assist weight loss. It started as a discussion group for how to best lose weight.
Varying on location, Weight Watchers generally offers two distinct programs:
- The POINTS program
- The Core program
The programs are supplemented by optional support groups which meet regularly and provide ground assistance to those trying to meet weight-loss goals.
In the UK, Weight Watchers advertises under the slogan "where no food is a sin" in reference to its chief competitor Slimming World's system of giving some food "sin" values.
POINTS System
The POINTS system is based on allocating servings of food a specific number of points. A program participant is allowed to eat food that amounts to a certain number of points per week. The number of permitted points for an individual is calculated based on the individual's weight goals, and the level of physical acitivity of the participant.
The formula for calculating the POINTS content of a specific food serving uses a formula described in US Patent 6,040,531:
- <math>p = \frac{c}{50} + \frac{f}{12} - \frac{\min\{r,4\}}{5}<math>
Where p is the number of points, c is the number of calories, f is the grams of fat, and r is the grams of dietary fibre.
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