Study will discover secret of lasting weight loss

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

The obesity charity Weight Concern is running an investigation into what makes a successful diet.
One in five of those on a diet do not lose weight long-term. Now experts at the British charity Weight Concern, which wants to develop ways of treating overweight, is going to carry out the world's largest weight loss study. They are recruiting a group of 10,000 overweight, or formerly overweight, men and women to discover the secrets of successful dieters and the reason why so many fail to lose weight.

Known as The Big Panel, the study's first project is looking at the role weighing scales play in dieting. The participants will be asked how often they weigh themselves over a three month period. Weight Concern will see if their weight and body image change and work out whether weighing yourself is useful, or not, when you are dieting. The Big Panel is the biggest study of its kind to take place outside a hospital, The researchers hope the findings will help them develop weight loss guidelines that can be followed in the real world.

Source
Weight Concern 9th March 2006

Please take a moment to give us your comments. For questions about Health matters you may check our "Questions & Answers" Portal and Service.