Dietary counseling can be effective

BOSTON, July 5 (UPI) -- Dietary counseling can, on average, result in weight loss of approximately 6 percent of body weight after one year, according to a U.S. study.

Researchers at the Tufts University School of Medicine analyzed 46 trials that included 6,386 people who were participating in dietary counseling-based weight loss programs and 5,467 people not involved in formal weight loss programs.

Programs with more frequent meetings and greater calorie restrictions tended to produce greater weight losses over time, according to one of the study's authors, Dr. Michael L. Dansinger, a physician at Tufts-New England Medical Center, in Boston.

Approximately half the weight loss remained at three years, but almost none of the weight loss remained at five years, said the study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"We did not know how much weight people lost on average through weight loss programs or how long it took them to gain it back," Dansinger said in a statement. "This study shows that lifestyle changes need to be for the long-term.

Moderate weight loss -- 10 to 20 pounds -- has a dramatic effect on most of the medical problems caused by obesity, according to Dansinger.