Obesity Health Article

Prognosis

As many as 85% of dieters who do not exercise on a regular basis regain their lost weight within two years. In five years, the figure rises to 90%. Repeatedly losing and regaining weight (yo-yo dieting) encourages the body to store fat and may increase a patient's risk of developing heart disease. The primary factor in achieving and maintaining weight loss is a life-long commitment to regular exercise and sensible eating habits.

Health care team roles

Physicians diagnose obesity and prescribe drugs to control it, but others can also play a role in treatment. Nutritionists and dietitians design effective and safe meal plans while taking into account the person's individual needs. Registered nurses also make nutritional recommendations and monitor the person's daily dietary intake.

Many obese people with back or knee problems cannot exercise, exacerbating the weight problem. Physical therapists design exercise programs for these individuals to improve the body's physical functionality, so more exercise can be done at higher levels of intensity. Personal trainers and fitness instructors help with weight training and cardiovascular exercise, to increase the amount of lean muscle mass and decrease body fat.

Since obesity often causes self-esteem problems, psychiatrists and psychologists use therapies including hypnotism and imagery to help improve a person's emotional well being or body image. Psychologists prescribe drugs to treat depression and anxiety disorders resulting from obesity. Treatments such as sound therapy, relaxation, and yoga, monitored by holistic health professionals, also may be helpful.

Prevention

Obesity experts suggest that a key to preventing excess weight gain is monitoring fat consumption rather than counting calories, and the National Cholesterol Education Program maintains that only 30% of calories should be derived from fat. Only one-third of those calories should be contained in saturated fats (the kind of fat found in high concentrations in meat, poultry, and dairy products).

Because most people eat more than they think they do, keeping a detailed food diary is a useful way to assess eating habits. Eating three balanced, moderate-portion meals a day—with the main meal at mid-day—is a more effective way to prevent obesity than fasting or crash diets.

Exercise increases the metabolic rate by creating muscle, which burns more calories than fat. When regular exercise is combined with regular, healthful meals, calories continue to burn at an accelerated rate for several hours.

Finally, encouraging healthful habits in children is a key to preventing childhood obesity and the health problems that follow in adulthood.

KEY TERMS

Body Mass Index (BMI)—A way of computing an individual's relative weight to height ratio, used in determining the degree to which an individual may be overweight.

Obesity—An abnormal accumulation of body fat, usually 20% or more over an individual's ideal body weight.

ORGANIZATIONS

HCF Nutrition Research Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 22124, Lexington, KY 40522. (606) 276-3119.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. 31 Center Drive, USC2560, Building 31, Room 9A-04, Bethesda, MD 20892-2560. Phone: (301) 496-3583. Website: <http://www.niddk.nih/gov>.

National Obesity Research Foundation. Temple University, Weiss Hall 867, Philadelphia, PA 19122.

The Weight-Control Information Network. 1 Win Way, Bethesda, MD 20896–3665. Phone: (301) 951–1120. Website: <http://www.navigator.tufts.edu/special/win.html>.

OTHER

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for Health Statistics. Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Adults in the United States; Prevalence of Overweight Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 1999. Hyattsville, MD: Division of Data Services, pp. 20782–2003.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. <http://www.fda.gov/cder/index.html>.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "Dietary Supplements Containing Ephedrine Alkaloids." 21 CFR Part 111, Docket No. 95N-0304, RIN 0901-AA59.

Maia Appleby