Daily HealthBeat Tip - June 11, 2007

Hope to keep it off

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Are all of our diets destined to fail? Is temporarily thinner the best we can hope for? A lot of us think so. But a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates many of our diets succeed. People can, too, keep it off.

Edward Weiss checked for that in survey data from more than 1,300 people. He looked at people who cut at least 10 percent off their highest weight.

"Fifty-eight-point-nine percent of adults who reported substantial weight loss maintained their weight within 5 percent in the past year. This finding suggests that weight maintenance following weight loss is possible." (11 seconds)

What works for getting it off can work for keeping it off, too. Weiss suggests staying active and continuing to watch what you eat.

The study is in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

Last revised: June, 11 2007