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Obese
People May Set
Unrealistic Weight Loss Goals
Excerpt By Charnicia E. Huggins, Reuters Health
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - Although obese people can gain health
benefits by losing just 5% to 10% of their weight, many of them
set higher goals for their weight loss, new study findings show.
And in doing so, they may also be setting themselves up for a
big disappointment, researchers report.
The findings
show that ``obese patients have unrealistic goals for weight loss,''
lead study author Dr. Gary D. Foster of the University of Pennsylvania
School of Medicine in Philadelphia, told Reuters Health. ``Their
expectations cannot be met by nonsurgical treatments.''
To investigate,
Foster and his colleagues studied nearly 400 obese individuals
who desired to lose weight, including 50 who sought surgical treatment.
On average, study participants were about 43 years old and weighed
about 109 kilograms (240 pounds).
Study participants
reported an average dream weight of about 64 kilograms (141 pounds)
and said they would be disappointed if they weighed, on average,
90 kilograms (198 pounds) at the end of their weight loss treatment,
according to the report in the September 24th issue of Archives
of Internal Medicine.
In fact, they
said that losing 16% of their body weight would be ``disappointing,''
something they could ``not view as successful in any way,'' and
losing 25% would be only ''acceptable''--but they ``would not
be particularly happy.''
The participants'
initial weight most strongly predicted whether they would be happy
with their weight at the end of the treatment or if they would
find it just ``acceptable'' or ''disappointing,'' the report indicates.
Thus, heavier individuals tended to be more disappointed with
the results of their weight loss than their lighter peers.
The heavier
participants realistically chose higher values for their desired
weights than did lighter individuals, but these desired weights
still required more weight loss in comparison to that required
for the lighter individuals to reach their dream weights, the
researchers explain.
For example,
participants who weighed about 90 kilograms (198 pounds) said
that losing 18% of their weight would be acceptable, but those
who weighed about 135 kilograms (298 pounds) needed to lose almost
double that amount (33%) to consider their weight loss acceptable.
Patients who
were screened for surgical treatment chose significantly lower
dream weights than did their peers. In general, patients undergoing
surgery as an obesity treatment could expect to lose 27% of their
body weight, but these study participants considered a 38% weight
reduction as only ''acceptable,'' Foster's team reports.
The extent
to which an individual is satisfied with his or her weight loss
may influence their subsequent maintenance of that weight loss,
the authors suggest. But this belief is based only on clinical
experience and related psychology studies, so a long-term study
is needed, they conclude.
``Weight loss
is both a behavioral and biological struggle,'' Foster said. ``It
is a myth that you can weigh what you want; not everyone who eats
the same and exercises the same weighs the same.''
Foster also
offered the following advice to people who desire to lose weight:
``Make changes that improve your weight and health that are sustainable.
Rather than pursuing unrealistic weight goals, live your life
fully.''
SOURCE:
Archives of Internal Medicine 2001;161:2133-2139.
Reference
Source 89
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