ABC News/AOL Poll Finds Losing Weight Tops New Year's Resolutions

NEW YORK --(Business Wire)-- Jan. 2, 2006 -- America Online, Inc.: ABC's Good Morning America and AOL.com Kick Off 'America Takes It Off' Program With On-Air and Online Components Celebrity Trainer Gregory Joujon-Roche Leads Efforts

AOL and ABC's Good Morning America will ring in the New Year by helping millions of Americans lose weight through its "America Takes It Off" initiative launching today. According to an ABC News/AOL poll, of those that plan to make a New Year's resolution, losing weight and stopping smoking top the list. With 34% of those surveyed believing they are overweight and 45% of those surveyed wanting to lose weight, AOL and GMA have enlisted celebrity trainer Gregory Joujon-Roche and experts from AOL Diet & Fitness to assist Americans with this quest through on-air guidance as well as through http://www.americatakesitoff.com/.

Of those that want to lose weight, the poll cited that the hardest thing about losing weight is finding enough time (27%), doing physical exercise (25%) and having the willpower (24%). Through the "America Takes if Off" program, Americans will discover tips, tricks and tools to help them stay motivated including an area to pledge their weight loss goals, a community of others in the program, and "30 Days/30 Ways" diet and fitness solutions for anyone, no matter what your fitness level.

Responsible for getting Tobey Maquire in shape for the Spiderman movies and Brad Pitt bulked up for Troy, as well as author of the upcoming book "One Body One Life", Joujon-Roche takes a holistic, individualized approach to his weight loss system. 'I believe that improving fitness is about becoming more focused on one's body and mind which is why I initially founded Holisticfitness(TM). I hope to share through GMA and AOL.com techniques that will help narrow the gap between their audience's well-intentioned thoughts and the actual achievement of their health and fitness goals.'"

The GMA on-air kick off will feature two cities with high obesity rates, Houston and New York. Houston's Mayor Bill White and one of Good Morning America's hosts will participate in the program leading their cities to beat the bulge in 2006. Additional on-air segments will run on January 16 (weather permitting) and January 30 featuring Joujon-Roche. Special tape-measure bracelets created by eDiets.com will also show unity of the "America Takes It Off" program when thousands of individuals wear them in support for their weight loss adventure. eDiets.com is the official sponsor of the americatakesitoff.com site.

Additional ABC News/AOL Poll Results

-- Chocolate leads the list as the most favorite food indulgence, with ice cream coming in a close second. When asked why people eat fattening foods, they cited comfort as the main reason (59%). Younger people (aged 18-34) tend to use food as a reward (34%) more than 35-49 year olds at 22%.

-- Women tend to want to lose weight more than men as part of this resolution with 20% compared to 7%. Of those individuals that want to lose weight, 62% were women.

-- Nearly 60% surveyed want to firm up their stomach/belly if they could tone one part of their body.

-- Of those that say they are very or somewhat overweight, they cite lack of exercise (32%), diet (27%) and stress (14%) as the top reasons why they feel that way about themselves.

-- When asked what is the single most important cause of obesity in this country, 42% felt that poor eating habits is the main cause.

-- For those that find paying for healthy food is the hardest thing about losing weight, 73% fall within households with an income level of below 50K a year.

Methodology

This ABC News/AOL poll was conducted by telephone Dec. 9-13, 2005, among a random national sample of 1,010 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by ICR-International Communications Research of Media, Pa.

About ABC's Good Morning America

"Good Morning America" is the two-hour, live program anchored by Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. "GMA" airs Monday - Friday from 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m., EDT, on the ABC Television Network.

About America Online, Inc.

America Online, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate a leading network of Web brands and the largest Internet access subscription service in the United States. Brands include the AOL(R) service, the AOL.com(R) website, and the AIM(R), MapQuest(R), Moviefone(R), Netscape(R), CompuServe(R) and ICQ(R) services. America Online offers a range of digital services including the TotalTalk(R) voice service. The company also has operations in Canada and Europe. America Online, Inc. is based in Dulles, Virginia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.