Weight loss trends in obese Americans and different demographic groups, the differences between the years 1996 and 2003
Losing weight has always been an issue for Americans, a country know for it large proportions of obesity residence. In a study done in 2009 and reported in the article “Trying to Lose Weight: Diet Strategies among Americans with Overweight or Obesity in 1996 and 2003″ (published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, volume 110), researchers looked at the trends in weight loss attempt in 1996 and 2003 in adults who were overweight and among different socioedemographic groups.
These researchers used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from the year 1996 and 2003 to study these weight loss trends.
What these researchers found were that a bit more Americans who were overweight tried to lose weight in 2003 as compared to 1996. The most dramatic changes these researchers found about the weight loss trends was that there was a dramatic change in the approaches to losing weight. The number of people trying to lose weight by eating less (diet or energy restriction) doubled in 2003 compared to 2006. Also, the number of people who tried to lose weight by
Another finding was that in the demographic groups of Hispanics and less-educated adults, there was no change in the fat-content of the diet that they were eating (i.e. eating less fatty diet) to lose weight.
Also, in most of the groups studied, people did tried to move towards eating more vegetables and fruits in their diet to lose weight.
So what happened in the seven years between 1996 and 2003 concerning how people tried to lose weight. The conclusion is that losing weight for obese Americans became more related to trying to restrain their diet and eat less (the number of people doing this doubled). Moreover, less people tried to lose weight by reducing the fat content of their diet in 2006 (a one-third reduction in people doing this).
There you have it. For losing weight in 2003, people tried to eat less but didn’t really try to cut out much fats in their diets. Now, we wonder what weight loss trends are now emerging in 2011 compared to 2003.
Study link: Journal of the American Dietetic Association