title: Relationship of dieting history to resting metabolic rate, body composition, eating behavior, and subsequent weight loss.
abstract: This study examined the relationship of dieting history to resting metabolic rate, body composition, and subsequent weight loss in 50 obese women. A preliminary study showed that the women were able to report with satisfactory reliability the number of diets in which they had engaged (mean = 4.9 +/- 0.5), as well as the total weight loss resulting from these diets (mean = 55.9 +/- 6.0 kg). We found no evidence that weight cycling, as measured by either of these variables, was associated at baseline with a reduced resting metabolic rate or an increased percentage of body fat. Nor did we find that weight cycling was associated with smaller weight losses in a prospective trial in which subjects were treated by very-low-calorie diet and behavior therapy. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed, as are the methodological problems encountered in conducting research on this topic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia.
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Wadden
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bartlett
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Letizia
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Stunkard
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Conill
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001481:Basal Metabolism; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D001823:Body Composition; D002648:Child; D004038:Diet, Reducing; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000628:therapy; D011897:Random Allocation; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000502:physiology*