CHICAGO (AP) – Trying to slim down? Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig scored the best marks for effectiveness in a review of research on commercial diet programs, but many other plans just haven’t been studied enough to evaluate long-term results.
The two plans are among the most popular and had the best evidence that dieters could lose meaningful amounts of weight and keep it off for at least a year, the review authors said.
Pooling results from several studies, the researchers found that Weight Watchers dieters lost an average of at least 8 pounds and kept it off for at least 12 months versus about 15 pounds for those using the Jenny Craig plan.
Most participants remained overweight, with weight loss of between 3 percent and 5 percent of their initial weight – but that’s a range that doctors typically recommend to achieve healthful benefits including lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
“It’s a really important first step to reach,” even if it doesn’t meet patients’ expectations, said study author Dr. Kimberly Gudzune, an internist and researcher at Johns Hopkins University’s medical school.