Advice on Healthy Weight Management
Weight Loss Guidelines
National Institutes of Health
Expert Panel on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight
and Obesity in Adults
Strategies for the treatment of obesity
and obesity related disease includes the following:
- Weight loss to lower elevated blood
pressure in overweight and obese persons with high blood pressure.
- Weight loss to lower elevated levels
of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides, and to raise
low levels of HDL-cholesterol in overweight and obese persons with dyslipidemia.
- Weight loss to lower elevated blood
glucose levels in overweight and obese persons with type 2 diabetes.
- Use the Body Mass Index (BMI) to assess
overweight and obesity. Body weight alone can be used to follow weight
loss, and to determine the effectiveness of therapy.
- Use the BMI to classify overweight and
obesity and to estimate relative risk of disease compared to normal
weight.
- The waist circumference should be used
to assess abdominal fat content.
- The initial goal of weight loss therapy
should be to reduce body weight by about 10 percent from baseline. With
success, and if warranted, further weight loss can be attempted.
- Weight loss should be about 1 to 2 pounds
per week for a period of 6 months, with the subsequent strategy based
on the amount of weight lost.
- Low calorie diets (LCD) for weight loss
in overweight and obese persons. Reducing fat as part of an LCD is a
practical way to reduce calories.
- Reducing dietary fat alone without reducing
calories is not sufficient for weight loss. However, reducing dietary
fat, along with reducing dietary carbohydrates, can help reduce calories.
- A weight loss diet that is individually
planned to help create a deficit of 500 to 1,000 kcal/day should be
an intregal part of any program aimed at achieving a weight loss of
1 to 2 pounds per week.
- Physical activity should be part of
a comprehensive weight loss therapy and weight control program because
it: (1) modestly contributes to weight loss in overweight and obese
adults, (2) may decrease abdominal fat, (3) increases cardio-respiratory
fitness, and (4) may help with maintenance of weight loss.
- Physical activity should be an integral
part of weight loss therapy and weight maintenance. Initially, moderate
levels of physical activity for 30 to 45 minutes, 3 to 5 days a week,
should be encouraged. All adults should set a long-term goal to accumulate
at least 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity
on most, and preferably all, days of the week.
- The combination of a reduced calorie
diet and increased physical activity is recommended since it produces
weight loss that may also result in decreases in abdominal fat and increases
in cardiorespiratory fitness.
- Behavior therapy is a useful adjunct
when incorporated into treatment for weight loss and weight maintenance.
- Weight loss and weight maintenance therapy
should employ the combination of LCD's, increased physical activity,
and behavior therapy.
- After successful weight loss, the likelihood
of weight loss maintenance is enhanced by a program consisting of dietary
therapy, physical activity, and behavior therapy which should be continued
indefinitely. Drug therapy can also be used. However, drug safety and
efficacy beyond 1 year of total treatment have not been established.
- A weight maintenance program should
be a priority after the initial 6 months of weight loss therapy.
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