Sydney, Australia, August 16, 2006 – A free website is helping people who want to lose weight and be more healthy. Mikibo, which launched last December, has thousands of members in 37 countries across 6 continents, and its members are seeing results. Since launch Mikibo’s members have lost more than 10,000 pounds of body weight.
Mikibo’s key features are food and exercise diaries, exercise plans and support groups. By tracking their eating and exercise habits, members are able to see what they are doing right and where they could improve. Mikibo founder and exercise physiologist Dr Toby Heap says that Mikibo is an educational experience for its members. “By keeping a food diary members quickly learn which foods are causing problems, and which foods are not. Most people get a shock when they record their food intake for the first time” says Heap.
The World Health Organisation has stated that obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. There are more than a billion overweight people in the world and at least 300 million are obese.
Being overweight increases the likelihood of death and illness from conditions such as: type two diabetes, sleep apnoea, osteoarthritis, psychological problems and reproductive problems.
While genetic and environmental factors play a role, the main cause of obesity is an imbalance between energy intake (food and drink) and energy expenditure (exercise and metabolism). This energy imbalance is caused by an increased consumption of more energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and reduced physical activity.
The shift towards less physically demanding work, increased use of cars and public transport and more passive leisure activities means that average energy requirements are falling. If our energy requirements are lower this means that we have to increase the proportion of fresh fruit and vegetables in our diet if we want to continue getting the same level of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Mikibo helps members to see if they are getting the recommended intake of micronutrients, such as calcium and iron, and warns members if they are having too much saturated fat or if their diet is high in cholesterol or sodium.
Mikibo was started by Dr Toby Heap who has a PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Sydney. As an athlete who was keeping food and exercise diaries he saw an opportunity to use technology to assist people to improve their health and fitness. “Keeping a food diary is a very repetitive process that involves a lot of adding up daily totals. It struck me that this was a perfect application for the Internet” says Heap.
Mikibo aims to empower members to lead more healthy lives. “We are providing our members with the tools and information they need so that they can improve their health and fitness through a sensible approach to nutrition and exercise” says Heap.
Unlike other weight loss and fitness services Mikibo is free to join. To become a member of Mikibo people can visit www.mikibo.com.
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