An eight-month study of dieting women found that eating a large breakfast with plenty of proteins and carbohydrates helped control hunger, reduce their cravings for carbs, and maintain weight losses.

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University put a group of 46 women on a very low-carb diet of less than 1100 calories per day. Another group of 48 women went on a diet of 1240 calories, with half their calories coming during breakfast.

Four months after going on their diets, the first group had lost 28 pounds and the breakfast group lost 23. However, four months after that, the low carb dieters had regained 18 pounds, while the breakfast group had lost another 16 pounds.

Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, who presented the study at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, said low-carb diets are not good ways to lose weight because "they exacerbate the craving for carbohydrates." Only 5 percent of such dieters are successful after two years, she said.

Labels: breakfast, diet, long_term_weight_loss

Fourteen morbidly obese teenagers who underwent laparoscopic gastric banding surgeries had lost an average of 20 pounds six months later, according to a study from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Though the Federal Drug Administration has approved such surgeries only for adults in the United States, this study was part of an FDA-approved inquiry into the safety and effectiveness of such surgeries in younger patients.

Dr. Ilene Fennoy, lead author of the study, said that she believes "banding surgery may offer the possibility of a new therapy for morbidly obese adolescents with medical complications" such as high levels of fat in their blood, high blood sugars, and poor liver function.

The surgeons who participated in the study put bands around the upper parts of the teenagers' stomachs to create small pouches that limit their food intake. A surgeon who has placed such a band in a patient can later adjust or remove it.

Stomach surgery for children and teens who are extremely overweight remains a controversial practice, in part because no one has documented the long-term effects of the procedure.

Labels: long_term_health_risks, long_term_weight_loss, obesity surgery

As obese teens and their parents try to find weight-loss solutions that will work long-term, some are turning to surgery as what they consider a "last resort." Though some doctors are hesitant to perform the surgery, others have seen the benefits.

"'It's very appropriate for a select group of kids,' says Reginald Washing, a Denver pediatric cardiologist and past co-chairman of the American Medical Association's childhood obesity task force. 'This is not an end to treatment. It's a way to get started. I don't think this should ever become a common treatment for childhood obesity.'"

Though surgery can help an obese teen lose weight, she must also make adjustments to her eating and exercise habits in order for the surgery to have long-term benefits. Read more at OregonLive.com.

Labels: gastric_bypass, long_term_weight_loss, obesity_surgery

Though maintenance programs helped children lose weight and keep it off, the long-term effects are not strong or consistent. A recent study conducted at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis also found that, when left to their own devices, kids will regain weight once a weight-loss program comes to an end.

"The researchers studied obese youngsters from 1999-2004 at a university clinic in San Diego, where [Denise] Wilfely used to teach. The children weighed at least 65 percent more than their recommended weight. All of the children in the study also had at least one parent who was overweight."

Researchers discovered that the best outcome was had by kids who changed their social groups - spending more time with kids who were active and healthy.

Labels: influences, long_term_weight_loss, weight_loss