More health experts are suggesting that mere use
of the word "diet" in our vocabulary and
its association with caloric restriction, is detrimental
to our health.
When Julie Miller Jones talks to students about nutrition,
she is amazed at how early in their lives they know
the word diet. By fourth grade, most do, especially
the girls, said Miller Jones, a professor of nutrition
and food science at the College of St. Catherine in
St. Paul, Minn.
Miller Jones and other nutrition experts wish these
fourth graders -- along with all the other people
they counsel -- would simply jettison the word "diet"
from their vocabulary.
"For a lot of people, the idea that a diet is
something to go on and then off is wrong-headed to
begin with," said Miller Jones. Instead of "diet,"
she suggested, substitute the word "eating plan."
And determine that you will stick with it for life.
"Unless [overweight] people get their head around
this idea, that this is something you do for a lifetime,
not six weeks or six months, they are doomed to failure,"
Miller Jones said.
Even worse, constant dieting, especially with severe
calorie restriction, makes it harder to lose weight
the next time, Miller Jones said.
No one's disputing that excess body weight isn't
a problem in the United States. According to the National
Center for Health Statistics, about 64 percent of
adults age 20 and older are overweight or obese, as
are 15 percent of children and teens ages 6 to 19.
Even so, dieting, particularly in adolescence, can
be counterproductive, experts said.
One expert, Joanne Ikeda, found that out when she
surveyed adult women about their dieting habits in
a study published in 2004 in the Journal of the
American Dietetic Association. She asked 149 obese
women if they had dieted and if so, how many times
and when. "We were able to use statistics and
compare with women who had not gotten that large,"
she said.
The result: The higher a woman's body mass index,
or BMI, the more likely she was to have started her
first weight-loss diet before age 13, said Ikeda,
the founding director of the University of California
Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health.
Even worse, she added, "there have been some
very large-scale studies coming out of Scandinavia
showing that [repeated] weight loss [and regain] actually
increases the risk for weight gain."
Often called "yo-yo dieting," this pattern
is definitely harmful, Ikeda said. "I tell people
if they have lost weight and regained it three times
[or more], they should stop focusing on weight loss
and start focusing on improving your metabolic fitness."
That means leading a healthy lifestyle, eating sufficient
calories for an adult. "Sufficient" generally
means about 2000 calories a day, but Ikeda stressed
that ideal levels can vary by weight and activity
levels.
Miller Jones said those trying to lose weight by
following a healthy lifestyle should do so slowly.
"People who slowly lose the weight are the ones
who are going to keep it off," she said. Instead
of severe calorie restriction, she suggested, cut
back by 100 calories a day -- you'll probably lose
a pound a month, she said.
A realistic weight loss goal depends on your starting
weight, Miller Jones added. "If you have 20 or
30 pounds to lose, [lose] a couple of pounds a month,"
she said. "If your BMI is quite high, over 30
[termed obese], a pound a week makes sense."
For reference, a 5-foot 5-inch person who weighs 180
has a BMI of 30, the standard threshold for obesity.
Find an eating plan you can follow, she said, and
ideally one that doesn't "demonize" food.
"Look for plans that say, 'Here are foods to
choose often, here are foods to choose less often,'
not 'These are good foods, these are bad.'"
Teens, in particular, shouldn't diet, Ikeda said.
"I think they should focus on behaviors that
will in fact result in the achievement of a healthier
weight. Behaviors such as exercising, drinking less
soda, drinking more water, eating less fast food,
watching less television, and drinking more low-fat
or nonfat milk."
The bottom line? The only way to have a healthy body
weight, Ikeda said, is to have a healthy lifestyle.
