Are You Overweight? In the last few years, the medical view of overweight has undergone a sea change.
No longer viewed as just a cosmetic problem, overweight is now known to be a public health problem of the same magnitude as smoking, due to the many health conditions it brings on or worsens.
Not long ago, obesity was seen mainly as a cosmetic problem. The purpose of dieting was to improve your appearance, especially in time for bathing-suit season.
Exercise was a way to tighten bulges around the stomach and thighs. As a last resort, there were diet doctors, although they were regarded with suspicion -- even within the medical community -- for popularizing fad diets and preying on people's vanity.
In just the last few years, however, the medical view of overweight, or excess body fat, has undergone a sea change. No longer just a cosmetic problem, it is now known to be a public health problem of the same magnitude as smoking.
Indeed, government statistics list overweight as the second-leading cause of preventable death in the United States, after smoking. By increasing the risk for a variety of serious diseases -- for example, heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, and several forms of cancer -- overweight and its more severe form, obesity, cause 280,000-325,000 deaths in this country each year. For many people, losing weight is not an act of vanity; it's a struggle for survival.
The dangers of excess weight have come to light at a time when the rates of overweight and obesity are soaring. More than half of all adults in the United States are overweight, and 26% are obese -- an increase of more than 50% in the last three decades. Obesity rates are rising dramatically among children, too, an ominous sign for the future health of our population.
Of course, as anyone who has ever tried knows, losing weight is easier said than done. And as hard as it is to shed pounds, keeping them off is even harder. The vast majority of people who are fortunate enough to lose weight regain it within five years.
That's true even of people who have lost weight under a doctor's guidance or by using prescription medications. It's no wonder that many people who have repeatedly tried to slim down throw up their hands in frustration and assume that nothing works. In the process of trying, however, we spend more than $33 billion a year on weight-loss products and services.
What are people spending their money on? Spending has shifted in recent years away from weight-loss programs and specialty foods and toward over-the-counter weight-loss pills and preparations. The removal of the prescription medication fenfluramine (part of the well-known "fen-phen" combination) from the market due to potentially dangerous heart-valve problems created a demand for new weight-loss products.
Next, Congress allowed the creation of an entirely new category of unregulated dietary supplements that are now available to consumers. Wild claims and marketing slogans have enticed almost 100 million Americans to purchase these dietary supplements, many of which contain a grab bag of ingredients never tested for safety nor proven to aid in weight loss.
The good news is that many people can lose weight and keep it off, as this report will explain. In just the last few years, researchers have learned a great deal about the biological causes of weight disorders. Dozens of genes have been identified that contribute to the problem, and researchers are beginning to tease out their influence on how much we eat, how full we feel, how fast we burn calories, and other functions that determine weight. Prescription weight-loss medications on the market today can temporarily manipulate some of these functions. In addition, dozens of potential weight-loss compounds are currently under investigation, in the expectation that they may effectively target other weight-regulating functions. The hope is that some of these compounds will safely enable more people to lose more weight than ever before.
But, losing weight isn't just about taking medications. It's about altering behavior that leads to weight gain. You will to need to determine why you are overweight. For example, many people gain weight because they find themselves in situations that lead to overeating -- the traveling business person who frequently eats in restaurants, or the mother who nibbles the snacks left on her children's plates. Others overeat in response to stressful or emotional situations. And for some people, the major problem is that they burn fewer calories because they have too little physical activity.
With all the fad diets over the years that have promised dramatic weight loss only to leave people disappointed, it's hard to believe that there can be any formula for losing weight. Indeed, there isn't any single weight-loss regimen that works for everyone, but different regimens work for different people. For the best results, focus on the strategies most likely to work for you, which will depend on the main cause of your obesity, the severity of your problem, and the presence of associated health problems, such as diabetes, hypertension, or depression. Doctors who treat people for obesity have found that, by planning their treatments around these factors, their patients stand the greatest chance of losing weight and keeping it off.
