New research finds a friendly phone call may help dieters lose more weight.

In a study of nearly 400 obese people, doctors found that those who received regular phone calls from counselors lost as much weight as those who had face-to-face counseling.

Researchers suggest that health plans could adopt telephone counseling as a simple and inexpensive way to help patients meet their weight loss goals.

New research finds that a simple approach to dieting - just regular phone calls from a trained dietitian - can help obese patients shed extra weight.

Doctors studied 376 obese people who were taking the weight loss medication Meridia.

Most patients using the drug don't receive regular counseling regarding LIFESTYLE changes that can maximize the benefits - such as keeping food logs, getting more exercise, and daily weighings.

For the study, researchers from Pfizer randomly assigned the dieters to receive counseling face-to-face, over the telephone, via e-mail, or no
counseling at all.

They found after 6 months, those without counseling lost the fewest pounds- just 5% of their bodyweight.

Telephone counseling was just as effective as the in-person method - both groups lost 8 to 9 percent of their body weight.

The email counseling group was in the middle, at 6 percent.

Researchers say advice over the telephone may be more convenient for both patients and dietitians - and an inexpensive method for medical plans to help their members reach a healthier weight.

Source: published in the Annals of Internal Medicine by researchers from Pfizer