Unlimited free consultation on the weight loss hotline

Are you worried that the DIY weight loss method is wrong? Expert help is just a phone call away! The National Health Bureau has set up a healthy weight management consultation hotline at 0800-367-100, which is staffed by a team from Shuanghe Hospital from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. They provide customized services to each consultant and prescribe diet and exercise prescriptions. Since its opening, each call has lasted an average of 30 minutes, allowing people who want to lose weight to ask as many questions as they want for free.

In the past, common weight loss methods for the public include attending weight loss classes, taking diet pills, or even undergoing surgery. However, these courses or treatments will eventually end, and maintaining weight is a lifelong issue. Although people know the necessity of "eat less and exercise more", they may not know whether their lifestyle is in line with it. The National Health Administration said that this is the purpose of setting up a healthy weight consultation hotline, which sounds like the phone number, asking people to "lose weight and exercise."

Shuanghe Hospital, which is responsible for the project, has established an online weight loss system for three years. People can receive professional advice on diet and exercise by just making a phone call. In addition to filling out questionnaires online to understand the causes of obesity, participants can also record their daily diet, sleep and weight information online, allowing professionals to better control the body's calorie intake and consumption and provide advice at any time.

The establishment of a healthy weight consultation hotline is based on such experience. Lin Jingying, co-host of the project and nurse at Shuanghe Hospital, said that this toll-free hotline was opened in June last year, with a total of 16 nutrition and exercise professionals working in shifts. She pointed out that professionals will first ask the caller's height and weight to calculate the BMI value, and then discuss the three meals and exercise habits one by one. For example, if someone is used to eating a hamburger and milk tea for breakfast, the nutritionist will calculate the approximate calories and tell them how to control lunch and dinner to avoid consuming too many calories in a day.

A total of 3,686 people called last year. Since the call was toll-free and had no time limit, each call lasted an average of 30 minutes. Among them, 237 people left their contact information and agreed to receive proactive calls from professionals every two weeks to remind them whether they had implemented the diet and exercise prescriptions. On average, each person lost 1.8 kilograms.

Many people hope to see weight loss results quickly, but nurse Lin Jingying said that the purpose of diet and exercise is to establish long-term habits. This healthy weight loss cannot be achieved quickly and can lose about 0.5 to 1 kg in a week. Lin Jingying believes that most DIY weight loss questions can be answered. Only those who seek medication or surgery to lose weight are recommended to go to a medical institution for evaluation by a doctor.