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Losing Weight

By Sarah Clark

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The subject of weight loss has probably had more column inches dedicated to it than most other subjects in recent years, but as we are saturated with diet advice and dire warnings about our increasing weight, we are, as a nation, getting fatter.

Recent statistics point to an alarming rise in obesity. The Government's science think tank Foresight predicted in 2007 that if current trends continue, 50% of females will be obese by 2050. The report¹ also claimed that by that date, 90% of adults would be overweight or obese.

Why are we gaining weight?

There are many factors that contribute to our weight gain as a society, and some would argue that it's our preoccupation with diets and weight loss that actually cause us to gain weight. In some studies, dieting, especially in women, has been associated with increased risk of weight gain² and even the onset of binge eating and bulimia³.

Other, more obvious factors are the easy access we all have to high calorie, and high fat foods; the prevalence of fast food and lack of time to prepare meals from scratch; and a sedentary lifestyle aggravated by poor work-life balance – we seem to have no time to exercise.

So, while on the one hand we are seemingly obsessed with celebrity weight and diets, snapping up any celebrity endorsed miracle diet (or detox) plan as it hits the shelves, we're also doing and eating the very opposite to what we should be if we want to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Traditional dieting - does it work?

The mechanics of dieting – eat less than you use and you will lose weight, seem to make sense physiologically. The trouble is that our bodies are complicated instruments, and just because we eat the number of calories, points or whatever the diet plan tells us, doesn't mean we will all lose weight, and certainly not permanently.

Some people are so incensed by the diet industry that they are calling for legal action – Susie Orbach, author of 'Fat is a Feminist Issue' and member of AnyBody, a group of women and men from psychotherapy, media, fashion, law, art, research and academia, was planning to sue Weight Watchers because of the high failure rate of its weight loss programmes – widely reported at around 95 - 99%.

Looking at the statistics makes for depressing reading. A report published in 2003⁴, and intended for the diet industry, included the statement, "In 2002, 231 million Europeans attempted some form of diet. Of these only 1% will achieve permanent weight loss." So – even the diet industry is under no illusions about the effectiveness of its own products.

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