UCLA study proves dieting doesn't work and isn't being researched properly

[merchimerch]

This article from Science Daily talks about researchers' analysis of 31 diet studies.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070404162428.htm

The most striking thing for me was that in its analysis it noted that studies on regaining weight (which usually last 2-4 years) are not sufficiently long enough, since people are still gaining weight back at that point. That would support the research I recently heard about that 95-98% of dieters gain their weight back eventually.

It also noted that dieting is a good indicator for future weight gain.

Go figure that these studies end up putting diet products/programs in a better light than the smoke and mirrors that they are (even though those statistics are still pretty dismal).

Does anyone have a recent link to the profits made in the diet industry? I know there was something floating around - here is a link to a 2003 article calling it a $40 billion dollar industry.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/030616/16profit.htm

This stuff is the reason I just want to kick popular culture/the media/advertisers most of the time. The issue isn't really about health or getting people to the weight that is optimal for their body and metabolism, it is about making people (especially women) into good consumers.

Comments

[fallen42.livejournal.com]

I've found that exercise while maintaining normal calorie intake works pretty well.

[thunderbox.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure it's fixable within the current social framework.

It's more profitable to sell people processed food laden with additives & chemicals, and having done so then sell them patent weight-loss medicines, exercise machines, sweatshop-made running shoes, fad diets & weird supplements than it would be to sell them wholesome food and let them walk to work.

The patent medicine/diet/supplement industries have vast marketing budgets and we'll never be able to persuade our governments to allocate more than a tiny fraction of those amounts to consumer education.

A country choosing to opt-out of this cycle would soon be in trouble since US National Security Strategy (http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html) now says – in effect – thou shalt have free trade, free markets and low taxation, or we reserve the right to change your government by force.