In a paper published this month in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers found that obese women who used a nutrition and behavior approach that ignored weight and body mass index, or B.M.I., a common measure of weight in relation to body size, were psychologically healthier at the end of a two-year trial period than those on conventional weight-loss diets.
Forty-one percent of dieters dropped out of the program; only 8 percent of nondieters quit. Nondieters lost no weight during the trial. Dieters initially lost weight, and then gained it back, showing no weight loss after two years. Nondieters felt significantly better about their bodies and showed highly significant decreases in depression, as measured by a widely used test.
"There is an extraordinary amount of scientific research that documents that dieting is not an effective health or weight-loss strategy," said Dr. Linda Bacon, the lead author. But, she said, "there is abundant research to show that when people make lifestyle changes, they improve health."
Courtesy of NY Times 6/14/05
Bonnie - Amen. It should not be about dieting. Discovering what foods are right for you and making those changes should be considered a lifestyle change. That is why I have never liked to use a scale or B.M.I. I have found in most cases for it to be counter-productive. When an individual is eating the right foods for their genetics and make the effort to change their lifestyle, weight comes off naturally and healthfully.
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