Less than one per cent of obese people will attain a normal body weight in a given year – without dramatic intervention, researchers warned last night.
The findings suggest that current programmes, focused on diet and exercise, are ineffective in tackling the growing problem of obesity, the researchers say.
The British study involved some 278,982 people with obesity, identified from electronic health records – but excluded anyone who underwent surgery for weight loss.
Researchers said that not only did few people with obesity ever successfully slim down – but many of those who had limited success went on to regain weight.
Even achieving 5% in weight loss – equivalent to one stone of 20 stone – was a rarity, achieved by fewer than 10%.
The study found that 78% of those who achieved 5% weight loss put it back on again within five years.
The study found some 1,283 men and 2,254 women who moved from obesity to normal body weight. This represented one in 210 men and one in 124 women over the course of a year, the researchers report in the American Journal of Public Health.
Researcher Dr Alison Fildes, of King’s College, London, said: "Losing 5 to 10% of your body weight has been shown to have meaningful health benefits and is often recommended as a weight loss target. These findings highlight how difficult it is for people with obesity to achieve and maintain even small amounts of weight loss.
"The main treatment options offered to obese patients in the UK are weight management programmes accessed via their GP. This evidence suggests the current system is not working for the vast majority of obese patients."
Fildes et al. Probability of an Obese Person Attaining Normal Body Weight: Cohort Study Using Electronic Health Records. American Journal of Public Health 17 July 2015
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