Are Weight-Loss Programs Effective?
By Adam Gilden Tsai, MD, and Thomas A. Wadden, PhD Reprinted from Eating Disorders Today Summer 2005 Volume 3, Number 3 ©2005 Gürze Books Numerous commercial, self-help, and proprietary weight-loss programs have arisen in the last few decades. In an article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, we studied the largest programs in the United States to determine what evidence, if any, exists to support their effectiveness. We researched nationally available programs—Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, LA Weight Loss, OPTIFAST, Health Management Resources (HMR), and eDiets—as well as self-help groups such as Overeaters Anonymous (OA) and Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS). The plans had to be organized, meaning that participants have regular visits, either in-person or online. Thus, we did not include the do-it-yourself diet plans such as Slim-Fast, Atkins, South Beach, or Zone. Commercial Programs The three largest non-medical programs in the country, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and LA W
