Diet Pills

Here are some interesting statistics about how dieters diet from a recent phone survey of 3,500 adults:

* 70% are following their own diet plans and have no interest in seeks a doctor’s help.
* One-third have tried dietary weight-loss supplements — those over-the-counter pills and powders that promise to burn fat, boost metabolism, or melt away pounds.
* 15% of US households bought a dietary weight-loss supplement at least once last year.

This study has been widely reported as evidence that people are making poor (maybe even dangerous) choices in trying to lose weight.

But, here’s what’s interesting.

The study was funded by GlaxoSmithKline, a large pharmaceutical company which makes a prescription weight-loss pill called orlistat (tradename: Xenical).

The implication of this study is that people should see their doctor and use more “legitimate” products like a prescription diet pill instead of the poorly-regulated over-the-counter pills.

Or, they can just wait a bit since Xenical will soon be available over-the-counter and without a prescription.

Do you think GlaxoSmithKline had some marketing goals in funding this study?

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition and Fitness

It turns out that 60% of Americans believe that over-the-counter dietary supplements for weight loss are required to have been tested and proven safe and effective.

Not true.

In fact, since the 1994 passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, dietary supplements require no pre-market safety evaluations.

Now a group of obesity experts have banned together in a consortium called the Reality Council to tell people that these products raise false hopes. One member of the consortium said that “people buy these products rather than go into programs that work.”

I wonder what programs this guy is talking about? The last time I checked, over 95% of medically-prescribed weight-loss diets fail to cause people to lose weight and keep it off. In fact, a survey performed by the consortium found that those surveyed had made an average of 15 serious attempts to lose weight — even if they consulted with a doctor.

So, I whole-heartedly agree that the false advertising claims by weight-loss products should stop. But, so should the promotion of traditional weight-loss programs and prescription weight-loss medications that have an equally poor success rate.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition and Fitness