ABSTRACT

In the absence of major progress in the prevention of

obesity, voluntary weight loss is considered central to

the clinical and public health response to prevent over-

weight and obesity-related conditions. Yet ironically,

recommendations of weight loss as a clinical and public

health intervention remain controversial for several rea-

sons. First, weight loss is perceived as being relatively

ineffective due to the large proportion of persons who

regain weight, raising questions of whether the short-

term benefits are likely to influence long-term health

outcomes. This concern is compounded by the lack of

long-term intervention trials examining the effects of

weight loss on major causes of morbidity and mortality.

Second, weight loss remains controversial because of

epidemiological literature associating weight loss with

increased mortality. This latter concern may have been

spuriously affected by weaknesses in the methodology

of observational epidemiology. Finally, weight loss is