FREE Subscription
The World’s Most Popular Natural Health Newsletter   
 
 
POSTED BY
March 26 2000
647 Views

BROWSE BY CATEGORY

Holiday Weight Gain Is One Pound, Not Five

 

We've all seen those depressing news items about how much weight most Americans gain between Thanksgiving and New Year's -- previous estimates say between 5 to 10 pounds. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health set out to see if this is true, and came up with a surprise. Holiday weight gain is a fact, but it is usually less than a pound. The bad news is that for the 165 participants who were weighed again the following fall, the weight gains they had made during the holidays were maintained. So, even though folks didn't gain much weight, what they did gain stayed on.

The New England Journal of Medicine 2000;342:861-867
http://www.nejm.org/content/2000/0342/0012/0861.asp



Dr. Mercola Dr. Mercola's Comments:
I am glad this study was done, as I was frequently quoting to patients that the average weight gain during Christmas is ten pounds. Although the weight gain only appears to be one pound, it does appear to be relatively permanent unless one changes their diet and exercise program. So, after 20 or 30 Christmases, one can easily add huge health risk factor with the additional pounds.

Return to Table of Contents Issue #146

Did you find this article interesting?  Interesting Not Useful
Community Comments ( 0 )
Comment on this Article

 
Truste
 
Mercola