BACKGROUND: Weight reduction without behavioral modification is not sustainable. 
However, with a technology application such as teledietetics, the recording 
process could be a cognitive cue for individuals to change their eating 
behavior. This study tested obese participants to determine whether 
teledietetics shows better results in weight reduction.
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a double-blinded randomized controlled 
trial. The participants in the food diary (FD) and electronic diary (ED) groups 
recorded their dietary intakes in logbooks and on an electronic diary system, 
respectively. The participants in the control group (CG) did nothing. Subjects 
were adults 20-60 years of age with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥25 kg/m(2). The 
ED and FD groups were the intervention groups and were compared with the CG 
group. The participants' body weights, BMIs, fat percentages, waist-to-hip 
ratios (WHRs), and mean arterial pressures (MAPs) were measured before the 
study, at Week 6, and at Week 12. Demographic data were collected using 
self-administered questionnaires. A chi-squared test and descriptive statistics 
were used to describe the demographic and biomeasurement data. Repeated-measures 
analysis of variance was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the three groups 
over time.
RESULTS: Significant decreases in body weight (F1.705,86.950=20.508, p<0.001) 
and BMI (F1.657, 84.486=21.256, p<0.001) and insignificant decreases in fat 
percentage (F2,94=0.547, p=0.581), WHR (F1.785,91.052=2.888, p=0.067), and MAP 
(F2,94=7.542, p=0.0001) were observed among the three measurement times.
CONCLUSIONS: Electronic dietary records were better than food diaries in terms 
of fat percentage reduction in our trials, indicating that teledietetics 
increases healthy-eating awareness.