WIN Wyoming and WIN the Rockies

Thought Bullets
for 
 November 2003

Want to gain weight? Go on a diet!

I’ve often reflected that a number of repetitive dieters I’ve known in my life usually gain weight as months turn into years and years into decades. These individuals can successfully lose weight, but often they gain the lost weight back, plus a few pounds. I specifically remember one female relative who ballooned in size over the years I knew her. She has passed away now, but her weight was a constant battle to her, and a battle she never won. She was a kind, warm-hearted, decent human being, with a hearty full-belly laugh. I often felt the battles with her weight would sometimes not only consume her, but would also distract her from her true passions in life. Although I’ve seen numerous studies that indicate a diet failure rate of over 90 percent, amazingly I’ve seen very little research documenting weight gain resulting from frequent dieting. That was why when I read this article in the October issue of Pediatrics, I knew the other ideas I had for the November thought bullets would have to wait. This study is one of the few I’ve seen that documents that self-imposed dieting not only fails at keeping weight off for most individuals, it actually appears to contribute to additional weight gain, at least in adolescents. This study should give WIN Wyoming members and others renewed vigor to promote healthy and pleasurable eating — as well as healthy living.

• Researchers at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital reported findings on a 3-year study of dieting in adolescent and preadolescent children. The Hospital is a teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School in Boston. The researchers tracked 8203 girls and 6769 boys who were 9 to 14 years of age in 1996. The dieting habits and body mass indexes of the children were tracked for 3 years.
• The researchers concluded their data suggested dieting to control weight was not only ineffective, it actually promoted weight gain.
• A nationwide study conducted by this group of researchers found that as many as one in four American school children under the age of 14 was dieting.
• When the study began in 1996, 25.0% of the girls and 13.8% of the boys were infrequent dieters. Frequent dieters included 4.5% of the girls and 2.2% of the boys. An increase in dieting was documented with the girls in the following two years. During the three years of follow-up, dieters gained more weight than nondieters.
• Field and her research team offer several possible explanations for the tie to dieting and weight gain. The most likely explanation, according to the researchers, is dieting leads to a cycle of restrictive eating followed by bouts of binge eating. The calories consumed during the binge eating episodes may account for the additional weight gain.

Sources:
Field A, Austin S, Taylor C, Malspeis S, Rosner B, Rockett H, Gillman M, Colditz G. Relation between dieting and weight change among preadolescents and adolescents. Pediatrics. 2003;112:900-906.

NUTRAIngredients.com. Diets may have reverse effect in children - new study. News and Analysis Health and Nutrition, October 7, 2003. Available at www.nutraingredients.com/news/news.asp?id=7888. Accessed October 7, 2003.

Compiled by Betty Holmes, MS, RD

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