We have all seen amazing stories of huge weight loss by grossly obese people, whether on shows like the “Biggest Loser,” or in newspapers and magazines articles, etc.. Yet a new study led by researchers at Kings College in London, England has found that the chance of an obese adult ever returning to a “healthy” (aka normal) body weight is only “1 in 124 for women and 1 in 210 for men, rising to 1 in 677 for extremely obese females and 1 in 1,290 for severely overweight men.”
Conclusions for this study (funded by the National Institute for Health Research) were based on electronic health records regarding the weight of 129,194 male participants (average age 55) and 149,788 female participants (average age 49 years old) from 2004 to 2014, with data showing both losses and gains for each. Those who underwent received bariatric surgery were excluded from the study.
‘The evidence suggests the current preferred treatments such as reducing calories while increasing physical activity are not working for the vast majority of obese patients,” noted Dr Alison Fildes, 1st author from the Division of Health and Social Care Research at King’s College. “Losing 5%- to 10% of your body weight has been shown to have meaningful health benefits and is often recommended as a weight loss target. These findings highlight however, prove how difficult it is for people with obesity to achieve and maintain even small amounts of weight loss.’”
As a result, Fildes and her colleagues believe that the only way to stem the growing pandemic of obesity worldwide is to find a way to prevent people from packing on the gross amount of pounds before it is too late.
