Being obese is surely not a good thing and what most people have been doing to lose a few ticks in the weighing scale might not be working at all.
A new study revealed that out of more than 150,000 obese and morbidly obese adults who were observed and analyzed, very few have managed to attain normal weight.
The researchers, who began collecting information from the United Kingdom-based Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) from 2004 until 2014, have examined the data of 76,704 obese men and 99,791 obese women who are aged 20 years above and have at least three BMI records. Participants who have undergone bariatric surgery, however, were omitted from the study.
CPRD is a database of longitudinal patient electronic medical records from primary care. It is considered as the biggest database of primary care data, containing more than seven percent of the population of the United Kingdom. It provides the most comprehensive data that are used for high quality health research.
Results of the nine-year study show that only 1,283 men and 2,245 women have reached normal weight. These are equivalent to 1 of every 210 men and 1 out of 124 women. The results for morbidly obese participants are more alarming as 1 of every 1,290 men and 1 of every 677 women achieved the normal body weight.
Moreover, the study also exposed that only 1 of every 8 men and 1 of every 7 morbidly obese women attained the annual five percent reductions in body weight.
The researchers have concluded that the chances of maintaining and losing weight are extremely low and obesity treatments that were founded on community-based weight management programs may be ineffective.
According to a report by US News, the results of the study are disturbing, especially to obese adults who have been trying to lose weight through diet, exercise and various weight-loss programs. Although the report cited that obesity can be managed in the early child life, the growing epidemic of obesity may result to epigenetic changes in the future generation.
"Obesity treatment programs should prioritize prevention of further weight gain along with the maintenance of weight loss in those who achieve it," the researchers suggested.
"However, in the absence of effective interventions targeted at the individual level, the greatest opportunity for tackling the current obesity epidemic may be found outside primary care. Research to develop wider reaching public health policies is needed to prevent obesity at the population level."
