Dr. Nirmal Joshi is president of the Joshi Health Clinic an a practicing physician in Central Pennsylvania.Weight loss recommendations abound on social media, magazines and television, many with false promises of rapid weight loss with minimal effort. Numerous high-profit business ventures have been developed around this very lucrative area since many consumers are willing to pay for remedies that offer a promise of rapid and seemingly easy solutions.
Life expectancy from age 40 years is 3-4 years shorter in people with a BMI of over 30 compared to those with normal BMI. An analysis of 57 scientific studies of close to a million adults demonstrated the “sweet spot” of lowest mortality in people with a BMI of 22.5-25, with mortality rates increasing by almost 30% for each BMI increment of 5.
The reasons for being overweight are diverse and complex. However, in the vast majority of instances, approaches to accomplish and sustain long-term weight loss remain grounded in relatively simple principles of lowering caloric intake and increasing caloric expenditure . This is an inherently difficult and a long-term commitment that involves behavior change.