A Prospective Study of Holiday Weight Gain — NEJM

A Prospective Study of Holiday Weight Gain — NEJM

Special Article from The New England Journal of Medicine — A Prospective Study of Holiday Weight Gain

Read the full article at: www.nejm.org

If you think the average weight gain during the holidays is 5-10 lbs., think again. The New England Journal of Medicine did a prospective study which determined that it’s closer to 1 lb.

The important point that the authors emphasize is that it’s not the weight gain that’s really important but rather the fact that most people never lose the weight back.

In fact, despite the focus on the “calories in minus calories out” model of weight gain, the truth is that the onset of obesity is insidious for most people. That is, weight gain accumulates slowly, at a few pounds a year – which translates to a very small number of calories per day, something like the equivalent of a few peanut m&m’s.

If the prevention of obesity were as simple as reducing calories by such a tiny amount per day, then the epidemic problem would not be nearly so intractable.

What this evidence suggests to me is that if you want to prevent becoming overweight or obese – instead of weighing yourself every day you’d be better off weighing yourself once a year.

So go ahead and enjoy that slice of pecan pie, just remember to get back into a daily regimen of clean eating and regular exercise on January 1st.

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