The Culture of Dieting in America

1
The Culture of Dieting in America

• By
• Melanie Overland
• 10/26/2005

2
Topics Covered

• Facts about obesity in America
• Diet culture and media influences
• Effectiveness of popular weight loss programs
• Weight cycling long-term effects?
• Summary and conclusion

3
Obesity in America

• Obesity is the second leading cause of
  preventable death in the U.S.
  
• Approximately 127 million adults in the U.S. are
  overweight, 60 million are obese
  
• Approximately 62 percent of female Americans are
  considered overweight
  
• An estimated 400,000 deaths per year may be
  attributable to poor diet and low physical
  activity

All statistics taken from the Obesityinamerica.or
g website.
4
How the media influences dieting

• According to a recent survey of adolescent girls,
  the media is their main source of information
  about womens health issues
  
• One study of mass media magazines discovered that
  womens magazines had 10.5 times more
  advertisements and articles promoting weight loss
  than mens magazines did
• A study of one teen adolescent magazine over the
  course of 20 years found that in articles about
  fitness or exercise plans, 74 cited to become
  more attractive as a reason to start exercising
  and 51 noted the need to lose weight or burn
  calories
• The average young adolescent watches 3-4 hours of
  TV per day
  
• A study of 4,294 network television commercials
  revealed that 1 out of every 3.8 commercials send
  some sort of attractiveness message, telling
  viewers what is or is not attractive. These
  researchers estimate that the average adolescent
  sees over 5,260 attractiveness messages per
  year.

all statistics taken from National Eating
Disorder Association website
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Americans spend an average of 40 BILLION A YEAR
on dieting and diet related products!
Dieting advertisements are everywhere in the
media TV commercials, internet advertisements,
magazines. Unfortunately, the results not typic
al is usually not observed by the general
population
6
So, is dieting helpful or not?

• Review article by Lowe and Timko 3 perspectives
• Harmful Obese dieters develop a variety of
  emotional reactions when they lose weight (Garner
  Wooley).
  
• Conscientious objectors who rapidly lost about
  25 of their body weight and then were given food
  again developed a variety of emotional problems
  and binge eating habits (Keys et al).

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• Ineffective Most weight loss programs are
  effective in the short term but within a few
  years the weight is regained. A study by Hensrud
  found that those who intentionally seek and
  participate in weight loss programs have no
  advantage over those who are not intentionally
  trying to lose weight or have had no
  instructions.
• Most weight lost by dieting is eventually
  regained (Garner Wooley).
  

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• Helpful Obese individuals who engage in binge
  eating habits significantly lower the frequency
  of binging when dieting, and it remains lower
  even if weight is regained (Foster).
• National data shows that long term dieters lose
  an average of 9-12 lbs and short term dieters
  (4-6 weeks) lose an average of 8-10 lbs (French
  and Jeffery).

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A comparison of popular diets

• 1 year study completed by Dansinger et al.
• Design 160 subjects were assigned to one of four
  popular diets Atkins, Zone, Weight Watchers or
  Ornish (low fat diet)
  
• Overweight or obese, ages 22-72 (mean age 35)
• After 2 months of strict adherence, subjects were
  allowed to select their own level of adherence.

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Results

• Atkins average weight loss was 2.1 kg and 21 of
  40 participants completed the study (53).
  
• Zone average of 3.2 kg weight loss and 26 of 40
  participants completed the study (65).
  
• Weight Watchers average loss of 3.0 kg and 26 of
  40 participants completed the study (65).
  
• Ornish average loss of 3.3 kg and 20 of 40
  participants completed the study (53).

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Weight Cycling

• Weight cycling is defined as cycles of weight
  loss or gain.
  
• Commonly believed to lead to decreased metabolic
  rate and thus overall weight gain
  
• This does not seem to be the case
• However, there does seem to be a correlation with
  higher instances of binge eating among extreme
  weight cyclers (this does not equal causation!!!)

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So what does it all mean?

• Obesity is a very real issue in American society
• Dieting can be effective or ineffective based on
  your goals and personal reasons for dieting,
  adherence and continuance
  
• However, fad diets are not usually effective in
  the long run results not typical!
  
• The best plan of action is slow and steady
• Weight cycling, although frustrating, does not
  seem to show any long term effectsso dont give
  up!

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References

• Bartlett, S.J., Wadden, T.A., and Vogt, R.A.
  Psychosocial Consequences of Weight Cycling.
  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
  (1996). Vol 64 587-592.
• Dansinger, M.L et al. Comparison of the Atkins,
  Ornish, Weight Watchers and Zone Diets for
  Weight Loss and Heart Disease Risk Reduction.
  JAMA (2005). Vol 293 43-53.
• French, S.A., and Jeffery, R.W. Consequences of
  Dieting to Lose Weight Effects on Physical and
  Mental Health. Health Psychology (1994). Vol
  13 195-212.
• kNOw Dieting Risks and Reasons to Stop.
  National Eating Disorder Association. 10 Oct.
  2005 http//www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/p.as
  p?WebPage_ID286Profile_ID41162.
• Lowe, M.R. and Timko, C.A. Dieting Really
  Harmful, Merely Ineffective or Actually
  Helpful? British Journal of Nutrition (2004).
  Vol 92 s19-s22.
• National Task Force on the Prevention and
  Treatment of Obesity. Dieting and the
  Development of Eating Disorders in Overweight
  and Obese Adults. Arch Internal Medicine
  (2000). Vol 160 2581-2589.
• Obesity by the Numbers. Obesity in America.org.
  10 Oct. 2005. http//www.obesityinamerica.org/byt
  henumbers.html.
  
• Tsai, A.G., and Wadden, T.A. Systematic Review
  An Evaluation of Major Commercial Weight Loss
  Programs in the United States. Annals of
  Internal Medicine (2005). Vol 142 56-66.