Food records: a predictor and modifier of weight change in a long-term weight loss program.

Overriding concerns about the accuracy of self-reported food records have overshadowed discussion of their practical value as a self-management, intervention tool. This study examined the relationship between keeping food records and subsequent weight loss in a large-scale, conservative weight loss program. Keeping food records was a better predictor of weight loss than were baseline body mass index, exercise, and age. Monthly as well as cumulative weight loss was directly related to the number of days in which food records were kept. The strong, linear relationship between food record patterns and weight loss suggests that in spite of legitimate concern about the accuracy and representativeness of self-reported food records, they have considerable power as a predictor of success in achieving weight loss.