Why weight loss is so hard
Most people who lose weight regain it – often even after weight-loss surgery, Monash BDI’s Professor Michael Cowley told the Sydney Morning Herald recently. The SMH, along with The Age Brisbane Times, WA Today and Stuff, was reporting on the SBS program Insight, which interviewed a woman about the downside of gastric sleeve surgery. Current estimates are that about 80 per cent of people who lose weight will regain it, Professor Cowley said. This is partly due to a “set point” – our bodies’ innate tendency to stick to a certain minimum weight, determined by genes and your epigenome, and environmental factors such as amount of activity and food eaten. Professor Cowley said gastric sleeve surgery would likely decrease hunger and the amount of food consumed, leading to successful weight loss with controlled food intake, but is only effective if a surgeon has a strong patient engagement program with adequate support.
The article was published to promote the latest episode of SBS's Insight 'Keeping weight off', in which Professor Cowley was a guest speaker.