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At a population level, we know how effective the various kinds of behavioral interventions for obesity are. The numbers aren't good.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/obesity-research-confirms-lon...

> But if we check back after five or 10 years, there's a good chance they will have put the weight back on. Only about five per cent of people who try to lose weight ultimately succeed, according to the research. Those people are the outliers, but we cling to their stories as proof that losing weight is possible.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5764193/

> In a meta-analysis of 29 long-term weight loss studies, more than half of the lost weight was regained within two years, and by five years more than 80% of lost weight was regained.

"Just eat right and exercise more" may work for a small number of people, but for most it's setting folks up to fail. It's good that we're starting to get medication options that can help folks achieve those changes; bariatric surgery works, but it's a big deal for the body.



Bariatric surgery also tends to require a period of weight loss beforehand as well as extensive behavior modification afterward. These new drugs should make that process much easier.


> "Just eat right and exercise more" may work for a small number of people

It may work for most people - those studies are performed on a fraction of the remainder.


> It may work for most people

70% of adult Americans are overweight, so no, probably not.

> those studies are performed on a fraction of the remainder

Why would you believe that?


Well, to be clearer, the first is just an article, but it talks about obese people, not all people. That's what I mean. Obese people are not all people, and studies of weight loss in obesity are on a few obese people.


Do you have any reason to think that the sample isn't representative?




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