Health
Majority of people who lose weight keep it off for a year
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 2, 2007
Nearly 59% of overweight adults who lose at least 10% of their body weight are able to maintain the loss for at least a year, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in the July American Journal of Preventive Medicine. In addition, at the one-year mark, almost 8% were still losing pounds, and more than 33% had regained what they had lost.
"Weight maintenance following weight loss is doable," said Edward Weiss, MD, MPH, lead author and an epidemiologist with the agency's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
This analysis of data from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey also suggested that some people may be more likely to regain than others. Those who were Mexican-American, lost more than 20% of their body weight, had been at their peak weight for less than five years, spent more time sitting in front of a television or computer screen, were otherwise sedentary or attempted to control their weight were more likely to have pounds return.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/07/02/hlbf0702.htm.
