Weight loss study needs women 50 and over

If you are a woman 50 to 75 years old and overweight, you may qualify for a free, yearlong weight loss study conducted by Dr. Anne McTiernan and colleagues in the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division. The Vitamin D, Diet and Activity Study aims to test the effect of vitamin D on weight loss and breast cancer risk factors.

Eligible volunteers will meet regularly with a nutrition expert to learn how to make dietary changes to lose weight. They will work out each week both on their own and in the Prevention Center gym and receive expert exercise advice. They will also be assigned, by chance, to receive a daily dose of vitamin D or a placebo pill.

To qualify for the study, women must:

• Be postmenopausal
• Not be taking hormones or vitamin D (except as part of a multivitamin)
• Be in good general health
• Have no history of cancer (except non-melanoma skin cancer)
• Have no history of diabetes, kidney disease, kidney stones or bladder stones

To learn more about the VIDA Study, which is funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, e-mail vida@fhcrc.org or call (206) 667-6444.