Many Dieters Keep the Weight Off

You've heard the statistic before: "Ninety-five percent of all dieters gain the weight back."

Books have been written about how the odds are stacked against us. There are groups to help us lose weight, celebrity endorsements for weight loss plans, medications, surgery, hypnosis, herbs, potions and even weird gadgets.

For example, remember Vacu-pants? You hooked up a vacuum cleaner hose to these special pants and "the pounds just vanished away." People actually went for this gizmo. A former patient of mine even 'fessed up to having bought it years ago.

For all the available weight loss strategies, there are an equal number of dismal reports reminding us that absolutely nothing seems to work over the long term for about 19 out of 20 people who try them.

Of course, with Vacu-pants, it's probably 20 out of 20, but that's another story.

Yet, consumers are persistent and continue to fight the battle to lose weight and keep it off. Now, a new study suggests that, although we have a long way to go, more of us are winning than was previously thought.

Why Weight Returns for Some

The study, just published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, looked at 1,310 adults from the 1999 to 2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey who were overweight or obese at their heaviest weight, but who had lost at least 10 percent of their maximum weight a year before the survey.

Nearly two out of three subjects either maintained their weight (within 5 percent) or continued to lose weight.

While a full third of those surveyed regained their weight, these results seem much more promising than previous studies.

The study authors also found some common factors associated with those who were most likely to regain their weight:

Lots of time spent in front of the television and computer (four hours or more per day)

Losing a lot of weight (at least 20 percent of maximum weight instead of 10 to 15 percent)

Fewer years since reaching maximum weight (two to five years vs. 10 years or more)

Mexican-American heritage