Major Study Finds: Almost All Diets Fail
A massive study conducted in the UK found that people with excess weight have very slim chances of achieving normal body weight through conventional weight loss programs.
What are the chances for a person with significant excess weight to lose weight and achieve a normal weight? A large study conducted by King's College London found that the chances are 1 in 124 for women and 1 in 120 for men, and drastically fall to 1 in 677 for women and 1 in 1290 for men when it comes to severe obesity. The findings indicate that conventional weight loss programs involving diet and exercise fail in most cases.
The study tracked the weight of 278,982 participants through weight and health records between 2004 and 2014. It examined the likelihood of overweight patients to reduce their weight by 5%. Patients who underwent bariatric surgery were excluded from the study.
The study found that when it comes to reducing 5% of body weight, the chance of achieving this was 1 in 12 for men and 1 in 10 for women. However, 53% of those who achieved this goal returned to their previous weight within two years, and 78% returned within five years.
Out of more than two hundred thousand subjects, only 1,283 men and 2,245 women with significant excess weight (BMI of 30-35) managed to reach a normal weight, which is a chance of 1 in 210 for men and 1 in 124 for women. Among those suffering from severe obesity (BMI over 40), the chances dropped to 1 in 1290 for men and 1 in 677 for women.
Based on the data, the study's editors concluded that conventional obesity treatments fail to achieve long-term weight loss for the vast majority of patients.
Dr. Alison Fields, one of the study's authors, said: "A reduction of 5-10% in body weight has been proven to have significant health benefits and is often recommended as a weight loss target. These findings demonstrate how difficult it is for overweight individuals to achieve and maintain even small weight reductions."
"The treatment options typically offered are various weight loss programs. The evidence shows that the current system is not working for the vast majority of overweight patients. When an adult becomes overweight, they have a very small chance of returning to a normal body weight. We urgently need new approaches to address this issue. Obesity treatments should focus on preventing weight gain and helping overweight individuals avoid further obesity."
