Los Angeles – Roberta Perry has tried it all to lose the pounds – organized diet programs, prescription pills, psychotherapy, even hypnosis.
But after years of yo-yo dieting, the Pennsylvania woman, 39, realized it would take more than gimmicks to slim down.
“As much as I would like to have a magic bullet, I knew the only way … was eat less and exercise more,” she said.
Her experience is common. Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles examined 31 weight-loss studies and found that long-term dieting doesn’t keep the pounds off.
The findings confirm what scientists have been saying all along: Losing weight is easy. Keeping it off is another story.
“If dieting worked, there would be a bunch of skinny people walking around,” said obesity researcher Dr. David Katz of Yale University.
Since the 1970s, the ranks of overweight and obese Americans have risen, with two- thirds of adults on that list. Obesity raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. It raises blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which can lead to heart disease.
Many factors can conspire against successful weight reduction, health experts say. Diets can be boring, and there’s always a temptation to return to old habits. Serial dieters may become discouraged and give up when their weight plateaus. People who lose too much too soon don’t learn to make the overall lifestyle changes – eating healthier foods and exercising regularly – necessary to keep their weight stable.
“It’s just plain difficult to modify your diet and turn away from the pleasures of eating,” said Michael Goran, an obesity researcher at the University of Southern California. “We’re driven to eat.”
“We’re not saying don’t make some kind of effort,” said Traci Mann, the UCLA psychologist who led the study. “It means that people should be quite clear that a diet is a temporary fix.”
The study is in American Psychologist, an American Psychological Association magazine.
