Technology Slice Blog

Diet Programs Disease Risk - Losing weight is often touted as a way to improve health, but many weight-loss programs may not help stave off disease since people tend to gain the weight back, Australian researchers say. In a report in the International Journal of Obesity, they note the focus of such programs may need to change if they're really going to have a lasting effect. To test the potential impact of different diets, the researchers ran two computer simulations: One included a low-fat diet, the other a diet rich in whole grains and vegetables plus 180 minutes of exercise per week. According to the models, people lost an average of 8 to 12 pounds on the diets and kept the weight off for an average of 6 months. But the pounds slowly crept back on, and after less than 6 years, the dieters were back where they started -- negating any improvement in health from the weight loss. In addition, the researchers estimate that only about 3 percent of Australia's population w...