TOPS Club
Milwaukee, Wisconsin[1] | |
Area served | Worldwide, but primarily United States and Canada |
---|---|
Members | 180,000 members/10,000 chapters |
Key people | Rick Danforth, President |
Website | www |
TOPS Club, Inc. is a
Weight control philosophy
TOPS originally formed in 1948 as a response to the need to assist
TOPS does not endorse any particular weight-loss plan (see
Local chapter meetings
A local chapter of the club is set up in a small region, usually covering one community. Larger communities may have more than one chapter, either because of size limitations or to address the various schedules of their members. According to their website, the average chapter has 20 members. The total membership as of 2017 is almost 120,000 in the US and Canada. Only 4 people are needed to start a meeting in their community.
Members meet weekly both for weight recording ("weigh-in") and for the main session. The weigh-in is performed in a private room with two members present as recording officers. As such, the weight records are considered medically sound.
Members are required to consult with their health care professional for a written goal weight for themselves. This goal is turned in to the recorders. The first-year membership fee is $49 in the USA and $59 in Canada plus local expense-covering dues averaging $5 monthly.[3] Renewals and family members are less.
The main session in a chapter meeting is usually one of two types: education or special recognition. In either case, the meeting begins with a report of total losses or gains, in pounds, for the week, as tabulated from the just-completed weight recording. Individual members are recognized for such things as losing the most pounds in one week among all the members. Small prizes are awarded to these "losers" (the word used within the confines of TOPS instead of "winners"). These prizes are funded from the weekly dues (one to two dollars) collected from the members. Special recognition involves more elaborate award ceremonies for "losers" based on several criteria such as most pounds lost in a month or year, best overall improvement, steady "losers," and maintaining goal-weight for a KOPS (Keep Off Pounds Sensibly).
Online chapter meetings
Three online weekly meetings are available for members who have no local or convenient chapter meeting or who prefer an online experience, including international members living outside of the USA and Canada. Unlike members of local meetings, there is no weigh-in for online meeting members.[4]
International Recognition Days
The most successful male and female members reaching their goal weights in the current year (KOPS) from each state and province are recognized as Kings and Queens at regional events each spring. They are then invited to attend International Recognition Days, a two-day convention that is held each summer in a different U.S. or Canadian city. A highlight of IRD is the crowning of the International King and Queen and Runners-up. The winners are chosen according to which Kings and Queens lost the most total weight to reach the weight-loss goal set by their health care professionals. The International King and Queen are often chosen for losing 200 pounds or more.
IRD is also an opportunity for education and inspiration. TOPS features several health and fitness experts as well as motivational speakers throughout IRD.
Medical research
TOPS Club, Inc. has been actively involved in the clinical study of obesity and metabolic research since 1966 and has contributed almost $9 million to the Medical College of Wisconsin in support of these efforts. The TOPS Obesity and Metabolic Research Center at the
Work done at the TOPS Obesity and Metabolic Research Center has contributed to milestones of obesity research, including:
• The paper entitled “Biology of Regional Body Fat Distribution: Relationship of to non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus”.
More than 500 TOPS families participated as research volunteers in those studies, making them among the largest family studies conducted in the United States. Findings have been published in over 200 of the most reputable scientific papers including
The journal Obesity published the study "Determining the Effectiveness of Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS), a Nationally Available Nonprofit Weight Loss Program",[6] which found those who spent three years in TOPS lost five to seven percent of their body weight and kept it off.
TOPS also supports and encourages obesity research through The Obesity Society and Obesity Canada, and partners with many nonprofit and governmental initiatives to combat obesity, including former First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" campaign.
TOPS partners with Dr.
TOPS partnered in the "Bias, Discrimination and Obesity" study co-authored by Dr. Rebecca Puhl, Ph.D. and Dr. Kelly Brownell, Ph.D. of Yale University.[7]
TOPS meets with healthcare professionals at a variety of national conferences throughout the year (such as The Obesity Society,
See also
- American Dietetic Association
- Overeaters Anonymous
- The Obesity Society
- Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous
- Obesity Action Coalition
References
- PMID 4489849.
- S2CID 6773853.
- ^ "TOPS Weight-Loss Support Membership Packages".
- ^ "TOPS Weight-Loss Support Works!".
- PMID 2647436.
- PMID 20864948.
- PMID 11743063.