American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 26, 845-848, Copyright © 1973 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Follow-up of obese patients: 14 years after a successful reducing diet

¹ From the Heller Institute of Medical Research, Tel-Aviv University Medical School, Tel-Hashomer, Israel

Of the 38 patients with varying degrees of obesity who accomplished successfully a trying dietary course in 1957, 27 were located and weighed in 1971. Only five succeeded in keeping their weight approximately 15% below their 1957 weight, although all five remained overweight. Two patients gained continuously approximately 35 to 40 kg above their 1957 weight; on both, small bowel exclusion was performed. In 20 patients, the 1971 weight differed only slightly from their 1957 weight; in 10 patients, the two weights were almost identical. Neither the degree of obesity nor the initial success of weight loss bore any relationship to the eventual results.

These findings, together with others from the literature, were interpreted as providing evidence that in most persons the body weight is not primarily determined by appetite, but rather by the fat content (or percentage) of the body, which usually remains constant from early childhood throughout life.