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A listener has written from China for advice about how to lose weight. Michael in Shanghai
says he is 26 and has battled obesity for most of his life.
Obesity , a severe weight problem, is a complex condition. A doctor may advise taking
medicine along with changing one s behaviors. Experts say that the most successful weight—loss
plans include a well-balanced diet and exercise.
People who want to avoid weight gain have to balance the number of calories they eat with the
number of calories they use. To lose weight, you can reduce the number of calories you take in,
increase the number you use, or both.
A recent study looked at four of the most popular dieting plans in the US. Researchers at
Stanford University in California studied over 300 overweight women, mostly in their thirties and
forties. Each woman went on one of the four plans: Atkins, The Zone, Ornish or LEARN. The
women attended diet classes and received written information about the food plans.
At the end of the year, the women on the Atkins diet had lost the most, more than four and
one-half kilograms on average. They also did better on tests for cholesterol levels and blood
pressure.
Christopher Gardner, who led the study, says the Atkins diet may be more successful because of
its simple message to eat less sugar. He also says that the advice to increase protein in the diet
leads to more satisfying meals. He says that there was not enough money to study men, but that
men would probably have similar results.
Last week, another report based on thirty-one studies suggested that only a small minority of
people have long-term success with dieting. Most dieters regained their lost weight within five
years and often they become more overweight. But those who kept the weight off generally were
the ones who exercised.