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i am not a stuffed tiger.

resolutions, complications

Not to crush anyone's resolutions, but today's New York Times reveals the not completely surprising story that most commercial weight loss programs are not tested to prove that they actually work. Obviously, people can be called on for outrage:
"I don't understand how you can have a product you never evaluate for effectiveness," Ms. McAfee [of the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination] said. "It was a slap in the face to all people of size." [nyt]
The article is sprinkled with interesting comments from the academic "weight change community" including unaddressed questions about why people don't just go to their doctors to lose weight (my guess: it is probably way more expensive) and the suggestion by University of Toronto psychologists that "simply declaring you are going on a diet makes you feel better."

Posted on Jan. 4th, 2005 at 08:21 am | | Leave a comment | 4 comments |

Comments


tanukisuit

My New Years resolution is to "change my lifestyle" rather than to lose weight. I think more people should have that resolution as it is easier to keep and more permanent than simply diet and exercise where people can slack off.
Posted on Jan. 4th, 2005 09:15 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

joshc

I think that you're right, at least in the long term. I mean, people can drop pounds for a short time with insane diets, but lifestyle is probably the way to maintain.
Posted on Jan. 14th, 2005 07:29 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

ellenlouise

See related item here.
Posted on Jan. 7th, 2005 02:57 am (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

joshc

Thanks! William Saletan is one of my Slate favorites -- I've really fallen behind on the site these days.
Posted on Jan. 14th, 2005 07:15 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply