BALTIMORE, April 6 (UPI) -- A new study focused on weight loss programs found only two were actually effective.
Researchers at John Hopkins University analyzed 4,200 previously published studies focusing on weight loss programs and found only a few dozen were rigorous enough to include in their analysis.
"Primary care doctors need to know what programs have rigorous trials showing that they work, but they haven't had much evidence to rely on," Kimberly Gudzune, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of medicine and a weight-loss specialist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a statement. "Our review should give clinicians a better idea of what programs they might consider for their patients."
The researchers found only Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers were found to produce significant weight loss results in the studies they analyzed. Jenny Craig clients were found to lose roughly 5 percent more weight than those who were not dieting, and Weight Watchers customers were found to lose roughly 3 percent more weight. The researchers focused on 11 major weight loss programs.
The study is published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
