Portion control induces greatest weight loss, Suma study finds
The journal, Obesity Research, today published an article on the results of a 24-month federally funded obesity study led by Summa Health System researchers in Akron, Ohio. The study is the first to document that patients who spend a longer time in the action and maintenance stages for portion control or planned exercise were more likely to lose weight. The reverse was also true. Patients who spend less time in the action and maintenance stages for portion control or planned exercise were more likely to gain weight.
According to lead Summa researcher Everett E. Logue, Ph.D., the greatest weight loss in the study was related to portion control. "Although we saw similar patterns of weight loss related to reduced dietary fat consumption, increased fruit and vegetable consumption, increased physical activity and increased planned exercise, the target behavior that induced the greatest weight loss was portion control."
While Logue points out portion control showed the greatest weight loss, the study also suggests planned exercise induced the least. This however, does not surprise Logue.
"Portion control may be behaviorally easier to change than increasing planned exercise for many obese individuals," Logue said. "However, other research suggests that planned exercise is an important component of long-term weight management."
The study found that 38 percent of obese patients who consistently spent two years practicing food portion control lost five percent or more of their baseline weight. Conversely, they concluded that 33 percent of patients who did not consistently practice portion control gained five percent or more of their baseline weight.
"The message in the study is that you have to eat fewer calories and/or burn more calories if you want to loss weight," Logue said. "There are no short cuts. However, there are multiple ways of eating fewer calories and/or burning more calories. The trick is to find a way of eating and exercising that works for you that you can maintain for a lifetime. Since we live in an obesogenic environment, you can not rely on the overeating and sedentary signals that the environment is constantly sending. You have to block these signals out (cognitive restructuring) and change your personal environment (change the way that you shop for food, where you eat, and how you spend your non-work time). You cannot follow the crowd, because the crowd is getting more overweight each year."
Patients who inquired about the study and were primary care patients, ages 40 to 69, with elevated body mass indices greater than 27 or elevated waist/hip ratios greater than 0.950 for men or 0.800 for women were eligible for the study.
The data for the study called Reasonable Eating and Activity to Change Health (REACH) was obtained from 329 overweight or obese primary care patients from 15 primary care practices in Northeastern Ohio from July 1998 to December 2002. Eighty-four percent of the participants were between the ages of 40 and 59 years: 30 percent were males; 28 percent identified themselves as African Americans; and 45 percent had body mass indices (BMI) over 34.9 kg/m2.
Funding for the study was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the Summa Health System Foundation.
Summa Health System is one of the largest organized delivery systems in Ohio. Encompassing a network of hospitals, community health centers, a health plan, a physician-hospital organization, research and a foundation, Summa is nationally renowned for excellence in patient care and for exceptional approaches to health care delivery. Summa's clinical services are consistently recognized by U.S. News and World Report, Solucient and Healthgrades.
*This federaly funded study does not endorse any specific product. It was published in 2004.
>Click here for the printable version
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Portion Doctor Kid's Kit featured in Prevention's, Fit & Healthy Kids
....Serve smaller portions
Research shows Americans are super-sizing at home: Between 1977 and 1996, portion size for some junk foods jumped by 100 or more calories. So it’s no surprise that parents often inadvertently serve their kids too much food, sometimes two or three times more than they need.
Another problem with feeding kids oversize portions is it sends the wrong message to the child to not trust her own hunger cues, but to eat because the food is on the plate and her parents-not she-know how much is enough.
Use a kids’ portion plate To automatically keep portions under control, there’s a handy product called The Portion Doctor’s Kid Kit, which includes an 8-inch plate, 5.5-ounce bowl, and 6.5 ounce glass. The plate has sections marked off for different types of food (vegetables, meat/poultry/fish, and potatoes/pasta/rice) so you’ll automatically serve your kids the right amount. The glass keeps juice helpings in check and the bowl is perfect for limiting snack portions……..
Parents’ guide for kids of any age
Parents have the most influence over their children’s eating habits before the age of 5. So the earlier you start the better. But here are some tips, based on research by Leann Birch, PhD, a human development expert, for raising healthy, slim eaters no matter how old your kids are.
- Be a good role model Pressuring kids to eat their vegetables is not nearly as effective as eating them yourself. This goes for everything parents do, from eating healthy foods and staying active (do) to snacking in front of the TV (don’t).
- Watch how you watch your weight Birch found that mothers who are overly concerned with their body image and weight have daughters who tend to do the same thing, even at the age of 5. If you’re a mother, it’s best to do weight watching behind the scenes.
- Don’t reward with food “Foods that are used as rewards will become more preferred, and typically they’re foods that tend to be high in sugar or salt,” Birch explains. She suggests using inedible rewards instead, such as praise, an outing or time with parents.
- Wait on dessert If you must serve something sweet; do so later in the evening, so it’s not part of the meal. This way, getting dessert isn’t connected to what a child has eaten for dinner. Instead, it becomes a “sometimes” treat.
>Click here for the prntable PDF |
