European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 31, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Job unhealthy major flaw in weight loss strategies by Jane e. Brody new York times recent findings on tie causes of obesity and the metabolic consequences of pc to dieting Are forcing weight reduction special Isle to reconsider both heir methods and the goals Omrea men. The studies show Tor example what Many obese people have been saying Tor years they get fat or stay fat on a caloric intake no greater than and sometimes less than the amount consumed by people of Normal weight. The dealer accused of cheating when losses grind to a halt has also been vindicated. Low calorie diets Long the mainstay of treat men. Are now known to have limited effectiveness in Many people because their metabolic Rale drops to protect them from starvation sometimes falling Tow enough to prevent further weight loss on As Tittle As 1,000 calories a Day. And White obesity that runt in families had Long been blamed almost entirely on household gluttony and sloth last year a major study of people who were adapted showed that genetic factors seem to predispose Many people to gain weight easily. Especially in a land of perpetual plenty where there is Little need Lor physical exertion one by one obesity experts Are concluding that Many in not most people with serious weight problems can hardly be blamed Tor their rotund shape and that Given the effects and effectiveness of current methods of weight reduction some would be better of staying fat. Only about one Dieter in 10 achieves lasting Success and Many obese people who manage to lose significant amounts of weight May have to exist in a sem starved state indefinitely to maintain the loss. At mat full of Ojah Propfe those who Are More than 30 percent overweight who try to diet Down to desirable weights listed in the height weight tables suffer medically physically and psychologically As a result and would be better off fat said or. George Blackburn an obesity specialist at Harvard medical school. But while these emerging conclusions May seem depressingly Lala Hsc to obesity specialists and the people they Hope to help the new understanding May eventually Lead to safer and More effective treatments for obesity than having to subsist on very Low calorie diets or resorting to dangerous drugs or surgical procedures. For lha last five to eight years i was ready in the doldrums said or. Jules Flrsch obesity specialist at Rockefeller University in new York whatever we tried had the same grim results people could lose half their body weight but they d a miserable in the reduced stale and in two to five years they d gain ii  but Hirsch added prospects opened up by new techniques in biology have really raised my spirits. For example we Are now trying to clone the Gene fat makes mice obese. In less than 10 years we should know How the obesity Gene acts whether people Are different from mice and whether there Are multiple types of obesity. I think Loo that we will belter understand the biological factors thai regulate body fat and find ways to manipulate them with  More immediately some of tha recent discoveries can be applied now to improve the health and fitness of obese people and to help those with lesser weight. Problems most of which Are environmentally induced to shed unwanted pounds permanently without really dieting new studies indicate that for Many obese people relatively Small weight losses often Only 10 percent of body weight can Correct a tendency toward diabetes or High blood pressure. Thus major health risks associated with obesity might be countered with modest losses of 10 to 25 pounds that Are easier to maintain. The whole premise that the goal of weight reduction should be to reach desirable weight is the major raw in weight loss strategies Blackburn said it s the first 10 percent of weight loss not the last 10 percent that s  for people already consuming a Normal number of calories Euch losses can often be achieved through an hour a Day of physical exercise. With Little or no change in caloric intake and with a More lasting reduction than that achieved through dieting alone. For example at Stanford University or. Peter Wood put one group of men whose weight averaged 220 pounds on a diet that reduced caloric intake by 300 calories a Day. A Simitar group of men were instructed to eat As usual but to run or walk 10 to 12 Miles a week. At the end of a year the exercisers had lost an average of nine pounds All in body fat and the dieters had shed is pounds 12 of which were fat. However two year Toler. He dieters had regained hair half lost pounds but the exercisers had kept off All the weight even if no weight la actually cml Flrsch said. Exercise can improve the health of overweight people by reducing their percentage of body Irmund their Rik of developing a life threatening Illner. Furthermore the popular motivational Pron Date of if Ai first you Don l succeed try try again May not apply to weight reduction. Rather the new studies indicate the Dieter s motto Shook a get in right the first Lime  Olmem psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania he showed that Yoyo dieting regaining weight and losing again increases body fatness and May ultimately result in an inability to lose weight even on a very Low caloric intake. Some women attending the University s obesity clinic failed to Kwe weight when eating Only 800 or boo calories a Day Brownell said adding that they seemed to be the ones who d been on the most  the Panchot Olst said that Yoyo dieting increases the body s efficiency in using food for fuel and May ultimately make weight loss impossible. In past centuries he and others have suggested this Genette Alry programmed ability to conserve calories improved survival Chance in periods 61 food Scarcity. But today it a maladaptive Brownell suggested Don t Start a diet unless your motivation is High and you adopt a Good program of life style changes that promote permanent weight loss. If the time in t right id diet  there it Alto evidence thai certain foods Are better than others in promoting weight loss. Contrary to Tang hold assumptions All calories Are no equal. A calorie of fat counts More to the body than a calorie of starch. Dietary at is the Only nutrient that can beat direct path to the body s fat depots explained or. Elliot Danforth of the University of Vermont in Burlington. Only 2.5 percent of the calories in fat ate needed to accomplish this starches on the other hand Cost about 25 percent of ingested calories to be stored As fat and Only about 1 percent of ingested carbohydrates end up As body fat. Thus Danforth said simply switching from a Hillh fal diet to one nigh in carbohydrates Wilhour a duchy lowering total caloric intake can result in a net caloric loss to he body. In addition switching from simple carbohydrates sugars to Complex carbohydrates starches and increasing dietary fiber can reduce the High insulin Levels often found in fal people. Since a main role of insulin is to promote he storage of body fal towering insulin levers should facilitate fat toss it might also help to Divide caloric intake into As Many As six min meals a Day and to avoid consuming concentrated sweets Between meals. Both Large meals and Sweet snacks trigger an outpouring of insulin and May increase body fatness beyond their strict caloric contribution. Other studies at Rockefeller University showed that obese people May never be Able to maintain a reduced state on the caloric intake consumed by those who have never been Lal. Or. Rudolph Leibel and Flrsch found thai a group of obese people whose weight averaged 334 pounds consumed about 3,650 calories a Day whereas people of Normal weight who averaged 139 pounds Ata 2,300 calories a Day. After six months on a 600-Catorie diet the obese people had dropped loan average of 220 pounds but to keep he weight off Ifrey could eat Only 2,200 eateries a Day. The group never reached Normal weight but if they had he researchers said they would have of consume Only 1,700 calories a Day indefinitely to maintain the loss. Such biochemical differences Between obese people and those of Normal weight Are most Likely genetic in origin according to studies by or. Albert Stunkard a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania who showed Hal adopted adults in Denmark were much More like their biological parents than their adoptive parents in body weight. The growing evidence that fatness is inherited should not discourage physicians about he treat ability of obesity. Body fatness responds to environmental conditions. As members of a sedentary and food Laden society obesity prone persons who wish to control their weight must learn to maintain a High level of physical activity and to eat  Page 18 the stars and stripes tuesday. March 31.1967