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....but the National Weight Control Registry!

From a colleague (weight-centric dietitian): "People can and do maintain weight loss. For example, look at the National weight Control registry in the USA" My response: The National Weight Control Registry is a list of people (10,000 in the US, so the equivalent here would be 750 people out of Australia's population) who have enrolled themselves after losing 14kgs or more and keeping it off for a year. It relies on self-reported data and people who regain weight are removed from the registry. It is not representative of the population or of the usual experience and was never meant to be such. However, it does tell us a bit about the statistical unicorns who consider their weight loss importa

But there are significant risks for mortality with increased BMI!!

From a fellow dietitian: "I do believe there are significant risks for mortality with increased BMI, irrespective of diet. I have seen studies supporting that, so I don’t think it’s a slam dunk for embracing any level of obesity. See the latest BMJ systematic review for example: http://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/353/bmj.i2156.full.pdf" My response: My fingers get twitchy when I see this kind of research used to justify recommending weight loss, but I see it all the time and I think it's important to unpack the details. The meta-analysis you've posted is a good one and can tell us many things. Mainly it shows that a group of larger people is, on average, likely to have a shorter lifespan than a

HealthNotDiets Digest, Issue 2, 2020

HealthNotDiets Digest, Issue 1, 2020

HealthNotDiets Digest, Issue 41, 2019

....but the National Weight Control Registry!

But there are significant risks for mortality with increased BMI!!