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 eating a more low-fat diet decreased by one-third in 2003 compared to 1996.

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

In a 2008 study, researchers at the Rowett Research Institute in the United Kingdom studied the effects on weight loss in obese men when fed (ad libitum) a high-protein ketogenic diet versus a high-protein, medium-carbohydrate nonketogenic diet.

The study was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, volume 87, page 44 in January 2008.

The objective was to study how those diets affect the hunger and appetite of these obese men trying to lose weight.

The study design consisted of 17 men. For 4 weeks, they were fed either a high-protein, low carbohydate (4%) ketogenic diet or a high-protein, medium carbohydrate (35%) nonketogenic diet. Data on body weights and ketosis were measured. Their level of hunger was measured using a computerized questionaire.

Variables included assessment of appeitite, pleasantness of the meals, eating behavior and mood, body composition, and metabolic profile.

The results of the study showed that, during the short term, the hunger level and food intake were decreased significantly when undergoing a high-protein ketogenic diet.

Thus for weight loss in obese men eating an ad libitum diet, a high protein, low carb diet can curb hunger and food intake.

Study link: http://www.ajcn.org/content/87/1/44.full

In 1993, researchers from the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration in Washington, D.C. did a phone survey 1431 adults (age of 18 or older) with the objective of determining the weight loss practices of U.S. adults trying to lose weight.

The participants were asked about the various weight loss methods they were using in trying to lose weight. Other information related to their demographics and weight-loss history were also asked.

The results found that the average person asked said he or she currently was trying to lose weight for 5-6 months. They also had tried to lose weight on some kind of plan once in the past 2 years. 71 percent of women and 62 percent of men said they were changing their diet and exercising more in their current attempt to lose weight. Some other weight loss methods involved regular weighing of themselves, drinking diet soft drinks, taking vitamins, taking diet pills, using meal replacements, counting calories, skipping meals, and getting involved in some kind of organized weight loss program.

The results were published in volume 119 of the Annals of Internal Medicine in October 1993.

See: http://www.annals.org/content/119/7_Part_2/661.short

Although this is an older study, looking at today’s current trends of weight loss methods, nothing too much has changed apparently.

In a study published in the July 31 issue of Nature Genetics, researchers in Sweden’s Umea University  have discovered a gene that increases the disposition for developing a type of brain tumor called meningiomas.

Brain tumors are diagnosed in about 1,400 people each year. Roughly 300 people each year develop the brain tumor type called meningiomas. Meningiomas arise from the meninges and is more common in women.

In this study involving 1,633 patients with meningiomas, a new gene on chromosome 10 was discovered that increased the risk of developing meningiomas.

You can read the full study here:

Common variation at 10p12.31 near MLLT10 influences meningioma risk

What Wang was able to do was to develop a lentiviral vector that latches onto HIV-infected cells, effectively marking them as a target. Once marked, drugs can be used to target and destroy these HIV-infected cells.

Using the specificity of the lentiviral vector, the advantage in this approach is to limit the drugs attack only against the targeted cells, in this case, the HIV-infected cells.

There is still work to be done. The lentiviral vector has been tested only in cell culture. The vector has been able to result in the destruction of about 35 percent of existing HIV cells.

It is well known that women’s magazines portray models who are on the extreme end in terms of weight and height proportions. These beauty models may have impact on women, who regard these models as the “target” for them to achieve in regards to their bodies.

In this study, researchers looked at articles published from 1999 to 2003 in the magazines Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness. The males pictured in these magazines were much more muscular and leaner than the preceived notion of an average male. Contents in these magazines also tend to reinforce this image of a much more lean and muscular male.

The researchers concluded that these images and content can influence behaviors in men in which they will try to build muscle and lose weight to achieve the abnormally lean and muscular imagese of men portrayed in these magazines.

In other words, are men running out to build muscles and burning off fat to look leaner, at least subsconsciously because they see and read the content in these types of magazines?

Article referenced: http://mensstudies.metapress.com/content/1404768418830847/

Getting some of the excess weight off obviously is healthy for a person, but for people with serious medical conditions, even modest weight loss can yield beneficial health effects.

In a 1992 study in the International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders (volume 16, page 397), researchers looked at patients who had serious medical complications commonly associated with obesity. Those patients who were able to accomplish weight loss of 10% or less saw positive health benefits such as improved glycemic control, lower blood pressure and reduced cholesterol levels. The moderate weight loss also appeared to increase the longevity of these individuals, according to the researchers.

Conclusion? Even losing a weight modestly can have health benefits. For those who are obese and have serious medical issues, the benefits can be substantial.