The evidence on preventing weight gain

We’ve all heard extensively about the obesity epidemic that impacts millions of Americans, leading to heart disease, stroke and cancer, among other problems. And, of course, it’s the time of year when many of us make new year’s resolutions to lose weight, exercise more and generally improve our health.  But what methods work the best?

To answer that question, I dug up a systematic review of lifestyle changes to help prevent weight gain in people who were normal weight, overweight and obese. The researchers looked at 40 studies on a wide array of interventions including low-calorie diets, Weight Watchers, meal replacement, behavior therapy by trained nutritionists, low-fat diets, exercise programs and others.

The conclusion?  There are many effective ways to lose weight and prevent weight gain. Eight interventions yielded significant improvement in weight control .  These included low-fat diets with and without meal replacements, low calorie diets, Weight Watchers,  and diets with behavior therapy.

The review did not find enough evidence to support lifestyle interventions to prevent weight gain in normal-weight adults. It called for better study design as well as improved reporting of participant characteristics and outcomes in weight loss studies.”

The take-home message here: To lose or prevent gaining weight, your best move is to do something. Whether it’s diet, exercise, behavior therapy, or a combination of the three, it’s likely to yield results.