17 May 2013

The science of weight management

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It helps to know that the weight management strategies you adopt are backed by scientific evidence. Online weight loss coach Andrew Cate looks at seven evidence-supported facts relating to weight control.

Weight management

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Proven weight loss facts
Clear cut facts in weight control can be hard to find. Fortunately, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has identified a number of facts on how to reach and maintain a healthy weight. The researchers identified the following seven facts.

1. Heredity is not destiny
Genetic factors do play a large role in determining your propensity to be overweight, but the good news is that heredity is not destiny. While genetics play a role, lifestyle changes can still have a significant impact on your body shape. Calculations show that adopting moderate environmental changes may help people lose just as much weight as the most effective pharmaceutical medicines available.

2. Diets don't work long-term
Reducing your energy intake (which is what most diets do) is very effective at promoting weight loss. But actually going on a diet, staying on a diet, or encouraging someone else to go on a diet rarely works out well in the long-term. It is important to recognise this distinction. Reducing your energy intake is the ultimate dietary intervention, and dietary changes or food strategies you adopt to achieve this outcome need to be sustainable over the long-term to be effective. Even sensible strategies such as eating more vegetables or eating breakfast daily will only help if they are accompanied by an overall reduction in kilojoule intake.

3. Exercise increases health
Regardless of the effect on your weight, an increased level of exercise increases overall health and wellbeing. If you are overweight, exercise offers a way to mitigate the health-damaging effects of carrying excess body fat. These health benefits occur even if exercise doesn't help you lose weight. This knowledge is important, as some people give up on exercise when they don't experience dramatic weight loss results. However, the benefits of exercise extend way beyond just weight loss.

4. Exercise improves weight maintenance
While there is a great deal of focus on weight loss, equal importance should be placed on maintaining a healthy weight. Physical activity aids in long-term weight maintenance, and the prevention of weight gain. Physical-activity programs are important, especially for children, but for physical activity to impact upon weight, there must be a substantial quantity of movement, not just participation.

5. Don't stop once you lose weight
Weight loss is a journey, not a destination. The lifestyle changes that encouraged you to lose weight also play an important role in maintaining the loss. Being overweight can be seen as a chronic condition requiring ongoing management to maintain long-term weight loss. Keep up your exercise program and healthy eating plan, and pay attention to small regains so they don't grow into large ones.

6. Weight loss starts at home (especially for children)
For overweight children, programs that involve the parents and the home setting have been proven to promote greater weight loss or maintenance. As a parent, your knowledge of nutrition, the foods you provide, the example that you set and your attitude towards exercise will have a strong influence over the health and weight of your children. Choose healthy foods and active pursuits for yourself, and involve the whole family so nobody is singled out as being on a diet.

7. Meal replacement products promote greater weight loss.
The use of meals and meal-replacement products may be a helpful tool in weight control. Meal replacement products can help to provide structure, and this is associated with greater weight loss compared with seemingly holistic programs that utilise variety and moderation. If you are juggling a hectic life, or have trouble sticking to a healthy diet, a meal replacement product may be an option for you.

References available on request

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