What should be the future directions for research on weight loss and control?
How Often and in What Ways Do Americans Try To Lose Weight? Who Is Trying To Lose Weight? The frequency and nature of weight loss efforts in the U.S. population were estimated from participant self-reports in four recent Federal surveys of health practices. Data from these surveys indicate that 33 percent to 40 percent of adult women and 20 percent to 24 percent of men are currently trying to lose weight, with an additional 28 percent of each group trying to maintain weight. Among women and men trying to lose weight, the reported time on a weight loss regimen in the past year averaged 6.4 and 5.8 months, respectively, and the number of attempts to lose weight in the past 2 years averaged 2.5 and 2.0 attempts, respectively. Weight loss efforts were not restricted to persons with high BMI. The percent trying to lose weight varied with age (lower in the youngest and oldest persons), increased with increasing education and family income and was positively related to BMI. The percent of men
