Weight management article part 1

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Weight Management: Making the Leap to a Healthy Life Reprinted from International Food Information Council & Food InsightJuly/August 1992 It all seems so simple: eat less, exercise, lose weight. Yet approximately 44 million Americans are overweight, and dieters are spending an average of $30 billion a year on commercial weight loss programs to take it off. Yet no matter what approach most people use to diet, their weight loss is temporary. The weight they lose almost always returns in the long run. That's the conclusion of a 13-member panel of obesity, metabolic and other experts convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) last spring. The panel examined the nature and effectiveness of approaches to voluntary weight loss and control. Studies show as much as two thirds of the weight lost through dieting is regained within one year, and almost all the weight is regained within five years. Other weight loss techniques such as behavior modification, exercise and drugs--even in controlled settings--usually produce only short-term results. Given this discouraging dieting outlook, many experts are beginning to shift their focus to the concept of weight management. Adopting a healthy lifestyle with a reasonable approach to caloric consumption and exercise, may ultimately offer more promise in managing

overweight than traditional dieting strategies. Overweight: What and Why Although precise definitions vary among experts, overweight has been traditionally defined as 10 to 20 percent above an optimal weight for height derived from statistics. Some scientists argue, however, that the amount and distribution of an individual's body fat is a significant indicator of health risk and therefore should be considered in defining overweight. Abdominal fat has been linked to more adverse health consequences than fat in the hips or thighs. Thus, calculations of waist-to-hip ratio are preferred by

some health experts to help determine if an individual is overweight. Regardless of the definition, the prevalence of overweight among Americans has increased during the last 20 years, adversely affecting public health. Overweight is associated with elevated serum cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, gallbladder disease, gout and certain types of cancer. Because of its serious impact on cardiovascular health and lung function, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is launching a special obesity education initiative, targeted both at high-risk individuals and the general population. Although the basic mechanism of overweight involves an imbalance between caloric intake and energy expenditure, it's unclear why this imbalance occurs in certain individuals. However, it is clear that overweight is more than simply a matter

of willpower. A complex combination of genetic, environmental, cultural, socioeconomic and physiological factors are believed to contribute to this condition. Surveys indicate that 33 to 40 percent of adult women and 20 to 24 percent of adult men are trying to lose weight, whether they need to or not. Another 28 percent each of males and females are trying to maintain their weight. In women, the percentage trying to lose weight does not differ significantly among various ethnic groups, even though black and Hispanic women have a higher prevalence of overweight than white women. Among men, Hispanics report the highest rates of attempted weight loss. While it's human nature to want "quick results," it appears most people take weight loss more seriously. The

average reported time on a weight loss regimen is five or six months. Decisions to lose weight are motivated by a variety of factors: the desire to improve self-image, reduce disease risk, improve overall health, or avoid societal "discrimination" against overweight people. In one survey, women cited appearance as a more important reason for losing weight than fitness, while the reverse was true for men. But, according to Judith Rodin, Ph.D., professor of medicine and psychiatry at Yale University, more and more women are beginning to embrace the fitness mentality. "The look

for the '90s woman is still lean, but now there is the added pressure to be fit. The emphasis on health and fitness is a new social force pushing increased body awareness," she said.