Obesity management - worth the effort?

AS anyone who has tried to lose weight will know, it is not easy. Rely on willpower or calorie counting alone, and try as you might you can’t squeeze into that smaller size. But surely some serious psychological input can do the trick? Outcomes for the behavioural treatment of obesity are modest and have changed little over the past 15 years. Individuals completing such programmes can expect to lose approximately 10 per cent of their starting body weight and typically regain two thirds of it within the first year following the end of treatment. Almost all weight lost is put back on within five years (Thomas, 1995). So is it really worth it? How can psychologists gain the upper hand in the battle of the bulge?

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