Does Anything Work to Reduce Obesity? (Yes, Modestly)
- PMID: 26921381
- DOI: 10.1215/03616878-3524020
Does Anything Work to Reduce Obesity? (Yes, Modestly)
Abstract
A large number and range of policies to address the obesity epidemic have been implemented. However, the prevalence of obesity has continued to rise, or at best has leveled off, and many individual interventions have had disappointing results. This has led some people to question whether anything works to prevent or reduce obesity. In this essay I review the evidence on the effectiveness of antiobesity programs. Although some programs have had negligible effects, others have had small beneficial effects on diet, physical activity, and weight. Nutrition labels on packaged foods and calorie labels on menus have led to healthful reformulations of foods. Offering incentives for children to choose healthy foods, and for adults to go to the gym, have proven effective at changing behaviors. Precommitment mechanisms such as deposit contracts for weight loss and bariatric surgery are associated with weight loss but may not be ideal solutions for the majority of obese individuals. Certain comprehensive school-based interventions to change children's diets and promote physical activity have proved cost-effective. There is no magic bullet that will solve the problem of obesity, but numerous policies with modest beneficial effects, if enacted jointly, could result in meaningful change.
Keywords: health policy; obesity; public health.
Copyright © 2016 by Duke University Press.
Similar articles
-
Policies to Prevent Obesity and Promote Healthier Diets: A Critical Selective Review.Clin Chem. 2018 Jan;64(1):163-172. doi: 10.1373/clinchem.2017.278325. Epub 2017 Nov 2. Clin Chem. 2018. PMID: 29097514 Review.
-
Survey of antiobesity legislation: are these laws working?Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2012 Oct;19(5):375-80. doi: 10.1097/MED.0b013e328357a71f. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2012. PMID: 22895357 Review.
-
Obesity: overview of an epidemic.Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2011 Dec;34(4):717-32. doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2011.08.005. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2011. PMID: 22098799 Free PMC article. Review.
-
The effect of weight management interventions that include a diet component on weight-related outcomes in pregnant and postpartum women: a systematic review protocol.JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2015 Jan;13(1):88-98. doi: 10.11124/jbisrir-2015-1812. JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2015. PMID: 26447010
-
Promoting Public Health in the Context of the "Obesity Epidemic": False Starts and Promising New Directions.Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015 Nov;10(6):706-10. doi: 10.1177/1745691615586401. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015. PMID: 26581722 Free PMC article.
Cited by
-
What are effective policies for promoting physical activity? A systematic review of reviews.Prev Med Rep. 2020 Apr 8;18:101095. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2020.101095. eCollection 2020 Jun. Prev Med Rep. 2020. PMID: 32346500 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Environmental interventions to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and their effects on health.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019 Jun 12;6(6):CD012292. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD012292.pub2. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019. PMID: 31194900 Free PMC article.
-
Targeting the spatial context of obesity determinants via multiscale geographically weighted regression.Int J Health Geogr. 2020 Apr 5;19(1):11. doi: 10.1186/s12942-020-00204-6. Int J Health Geogr. 2020. PMID: 32248807 Free PMC article.
-
Ethnic Disparities in Use of Bariatric Surgery in the USA: the Experience of Native Americans.Obes Surg. 2020 Jul;30(7):2612-2619. doi: 10.1007/s11695-020-04529-w. Obes Surg. 2020. PMID: 32189129 Free PMC article.
-
Homeostasis Meets Motivation in the Battle to Control Food Intake.J Neurosci. 2016 Nov 9;36(45):11469-11481. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2338-16.2016. J Neurosci. 2016. PMID: 27911750 Free PMC article. Review.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
