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Dieting: proxy or cause of future weight gain?
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Dieting: proxy or cause of future weight gain?

M R Lowe
Obesity reviews, v 16 Suppl 1(1), pp 19-24
Feb 2015
PMID: 25614200
url
https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12252View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze) Open

Abstract

Body Mass Index Recurrence Obesity - psychology Weight Loss Humans Obesity - prevention & control Body Image - psychology Diet, Reducing - psychology Mass Media Behavior, Addictive Feeding Behavior - psychology Weight Gain
The relationship between dieting and body mass has a long and controversial history. This paper aims to help resolve this issue by making two key distinctions. The first is between dieting as a cause of weight gain/regain and as a proxy risk factor for identifying non-obese individuals prone to weight gain for reasons other than dieting. The second is between the body mass that is attained following one or more weight loss/regain cycles and the body mass that might have been reached had dieting never been undertaken. Evidence is reviewed on the relation between recent diet-induced weight loss and sustained weight loss (weight suppression), on the one hand, and weight regain, on the other hand. Furthermore, the reason that a history of dieting in non-obese individuals reflects a susceptibility to future weight gain is explained. It is concluded that (i) diet-induced weight loss hastens weight regain but a history of weight loss diets does not cause weight gain beyond that which would occur in the absence of dieting, and (ii) weight loss dieting in non-obese individuals does not cause future weight gain but is simply a proxy risk factor reflecting a personal vulnerability to weight gain and living in an obesogenic environment.

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58 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#5 Gender Equality
#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Web of Science research areas
Endocrinology & Metabolism
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