There is a great deal of misunderstanding about weight loss, which extends well beyond the public to health professionals. On one level, that is hardly surprising because the evidence can be very unclear. The science of health behaviour – including nutrition, exercise, sleep and weight management – is generally less developed than research relating to other medical questions. Unvetted ”expert” claims abound.

So was the second…

Commercial sponsors of weight-loss diets make loud proclamations for the superiority of their product but lifetime adherence to a restrictive diet – which is necessary to keep off weight once it is lost – is unrealistic for most people.

The piece goes on to explain that the Eggers ‘assessed the best available evidence on weight loss and maintenance’ and used this information to compile a survey which was answerable only by true or false responses. They then surveyed 173 GPs and 129 truck drivers and tradesmen.

It turned out the doctors were almost as confused regarding weight loss and maintenance information as the truckies and tradies (some of us are not so surprised to hear that…) with the doctors disagreeing with ‘most of the supporting evidence on 40% of the questions’.

This means that almost half of the time, doctors disagreed with the current supporting evidence regarding weight loss and maintenance. Not surprising but shocking all the same.

The Eggers concluded that

It seems doctors could benefit from more education and training in this area, and much more research into these questions is required, to confirm or challenge the accuracy of so-called ”facts” on which weight-loss advice is based.

While I understand not all the studies the Eggers ’supporting evidence’ is based on would probably stand up to rigorous analysis, there are some positive elements such as their awareness that the BMI is a flawed measure for individuals and that fat people can be fit and healthy and still be fat. It will be interesting to see if the AMA comes out with a response to this…

(Thanks Melissa and little brother for the heads up about this one)