Diety Study: Health Story

Aired on Superstation WGN
Saturday, August 6 and November 26, 2005
Show 221

Over 65 percent of Americans are overweight. "The search for a diet is like the search for a lifelong partner. You need to find one you can stick with," says Dr. Michael L. Dansinger of Tufts New England Medical Center and the principle investigator of the largest diet study ever undertaken. "All diets work well for weight loss and heart disease risk, but only for those people who stick with them," says Dr. Dansinger.

"Previously, only one program, Weight Watchers, had done a very careful multiple-site, randomized study of their weight-loss program," says Thomas Wadden PhD of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

"A study makes us look smarter and makes our clients feel better working with a company that truly understands their needs," says Jim Evans former president and CEO of Jenny Craig, which is in the middle of a two-year study in cooperation with the Cooper Institute. They have found that exercise is the number one factor that determines long-term weight loss success.

April Considine, a Personal Weight Loss Consultant at Jenny Craig, says, "It's not about diet. It's about learning a new lifestyle."