Weight Watchers: “Points” of Interest

My goal is to write this post in such a manner that it doesn’t read like a Weight Watchers history lesson.  I hope to achieve this noble, yet difficult goal by focusing on the development and evolution of Weight Watchers’ POINTS system since its inception in 1997.  However, it’s next to impossible to discuss the company’s POINTS system without providing a little background information first…

Back in 1961, a stay-at-home mother, Jean Nidetch, decided to make a serious effort to lose weight.  Jean enrolled in a weight loss program sponsored by the New York City Board of Health.  The program was developed by Dr. Norman Jolliffe and was referred to as the “Prudent Diet,” which was centered on lean meat, fish, skim milk and fruits and vegetables.  However, Jean discovered that losing weight was difficult in a vacuum.  She remedied that problem by creating a support group of like-minded individuals in her apartment and this was the origins of what would become Weight Watchers.

Jean’s support group did just that, supported one another as they pursued their weight loss goals.  She was soon coaching other groups in other neighborhoods and that’s where she met businessman Al Lippert and his wife, Felice.  Al suggested a business partnership with Jean and Felice provided healthy recipes.  Weight Watchers was launched in 1963.  By 1967 it became an international company with over 100 franchises in the United States.  It was then sold to the H.J. Heinz Company in 1978 and sold again to Artel Luxembourg in 1999.  In 2015 Weight Watchers brought Oprah Winfrey on as its spokesperson with a 10% stake in the company.

As for its famous POINTS system, that actually wasn’t created until 1997.  Prior to that, Weight Watchers had their members weigh and count the foods they ate.  Originally called the 1-2-3 Success program, its POINTS system quantified a food portion for purposes of healthy weight loss based on its carbohydrate, fat and fiber content.  This system was tweaked in 2010 as fruits and non-starchy vegetables became their first “zero-point” foods and processed foods received higher point values.

In December of 2017, Weight Watchers introduced its Freestyle system which assigns SmartPoints to foods based on calories, sugar, saturated fats and protein.  This system expanded its “zero-point” foods list to over 200 items, to include eggs, salmon and beans.  Each participant is issued a personalized daily and weekly SmartPoint budget which they can use on any food or drink they like.  Unused daily SmartPoints can then be carried over on a weekly basis.  In case you haven’t noticed while perusing MagicKitchen.com’s selections, we provide SmartPoint values for every meal we offer to assist you in achieving your health and weight loss goals.

In 2018, Weight Watchers rebranded itself as WW International Inc.  It is no longer just simply a weight loss tool and is now a “partner in health and wellness.”  WW’s WellnessWins program encourages behavioral changes that promote overall health and wellbeing.  It has adopted the tagline, “Wellness that Works” and now refers to its local meetings as Wellness Workshops.  It also now offers fitness and wellbeing apps and offers a variety of other online services.  As of July 2018, it had over 4.5 million subscribers worldwide.