It's hard to lose extra weight, and it's even harder to maintain healthy habits that have helped you to achieve that.
Moreover, not all weight-loss behaviors are healthy on their own - and that can be quite dangerous as well.
A new study shows us what people's weight-loss behaviors look like.
More about the research
This study looked at how different weight-loss strategies affect heart disease risk in over 20,000 adults in the United States.
They found some interesting things:
- Eating healthier and exercising more helped people lose weight and reduce heart disease risk.
- Skipping meals and using prescription diet pills didn't lead to much weight loss or better heart health.
- Even if people lost a "clinically significant" amount of weight (around 5% of their body weight), they still had heart disease risk factors.
The study used a checklist called "Life's Essential 8," which includes things like weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and diet.
Most adults in the study didn't do well on this checklist.
Even when people improved some aspects of their health, like diet or exercise, they still had room for improvement in other areas.
Why is it important?
The researchers believe that preventing health problems through better habits is crucial because many people in the U.S. are expected to be overweight or obese in the future.
They suggest that policies promoting better health and regular visits with dietitians could help prevent health issues before they become severe.
