BodyMedia's popular armband is generating quite a buzz on the weight loss circuit.
BodyMediaFit, formerly GoWearFit, wraps around the arm and helps wearers to monitor their activity, calories and weight. The company has achieved celebrity status since its technology was featured on NBC's Biggest Loser last year and the armband was touted by ABC as a Top Tech Gift for the holidays in 2009.
Now a "peer review" of the product shows that participants who used the body-monitoring technology, either with a group weight loss program or on a self-directed regimen, lost up to three times more weight than those who tried to battle the bulge without it.
The study was conducted by Dr. Steven Blair at The Arnold School of Public Health at University of South Carolina, says Chris Robins, CEO. The results were presented at the American Heart Association's annual conference on fitness and nutrition in San Francisco this year.
"The study shows that this is not a flash in the pan, it really does help people lose weight," says Robins. "Study after study shows that we overestimate the activity we do and the calories we burn. There's really no guesswork involved. Your whole day is captured in the armband. It's a great product; now we need to market it."
With that in mind, the company has hired Theresa Gallick as vice president of marketing; Gallick, formerly of GlaxoSmithKline, has 20 years of consumer marketing experience. BodyMedia recently moved into 16,000 square feet at Gateway Center and has hired four people, bringing to the total employees to 42.
Robins projects continued hiring and 30 percent growth in 2010 as BodyMedia products beginning selling online through Target and Costco this year.
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Writer:
Deb SmitSource: Chris Robins, BodyMedia
Chris Robins courtesy of BodyMedia