MR NG Jun Jie logs in to Changi General Hospital's (CGH) online weight loss portal for five minutes every day, before he starts work, to key in his activities for the day and to check the meal plan prescribed to him.
The assistant software engineer then sticks to that as closely as possible and updates any changes when he logs in the next day. He has stayed faithful to this habit for the past year, effectively losing 15kg, more than the 10kg he first gained in 2002 due to the side effects of his thyroid medication.
There are a variety of ways people can keep track of how well they are doing in losing weight, with online tracking being one of the most popular.
Myhealth.sg, the CGH portal, can also be accessed by mobile phone. It helps overweight people track how many calories they burn each day, based on their food intake and activity. The 'Weight Loss' programme can be accessed only by those whose body mass index (BMI) is above the healthy level.
To calculate a person's BMI, take his weight in kilograms and divide it by the square of his height in metres. Doctors say any form of monitoring for weight watchers is welcome. Those who put in the extra effort are more likely to achieve their weight-loss goal.
'Record keeping serves as a reminder to stay on track and keeps the person conscientious,' said CGH's senior consultant sports physician, Dr Ben Tan, who deals with obesity.
Aside from hospital programmes, there are other online diet trackers that can be downloaded and used on a computer or cellphone.
The Special K-Buddy, designed by a group of final-year Temasek Polytechnic students, boasts an innovative feature: a support group. Through Yahoo! Groups, members of the Special-K group can share tips, opinions and recipes with one another. They can also look for exercise partners. Since its launch last month, the portal has seen more than 900 registered users.
Doctors said that while buddies are invaluable in keeping one another on the wagon, users should be wary about misinformation. 'We don't want it to be a case of the blind leading the blind,' said Dr Tan.
A moderator ensures that extreme views on the forum are kept in check.
The Health Promotion Board's (HPB) website allows users to check the calorie count of common local food, access information on health and nutrition, and use a diet tracker.
The 2004 National Health Survey showed that about 40 per cent of Singaporeans are heavier than their acceptable weight, based on their BMI, a common method of measuring obesity.
But the same survey also showed that Singaporeans are becoming more health-conscious, which is borne out by the number of hits on health websites.
The HPB website gets about a million visitors monthly, and the mobile diet tracker available on its website has drawn 7,650 registered users since its launch in 2007. There are 4,248 registered users on myhealth.sg since it was started in September last year.
While more people may be trying to lose weight through monitoring themselves, Dr Tey Beng Hea, director of the weight management programme at Alexandra Hospital, is concerned about the purpose of such monitoring and weight loss.
'While aesthetics can be one of the reasons, it shouldn't be the main one. The priority should be health,' he said.
This story was first published in The Straits Times.
