But even ‘fad’ diets can lead to a slimmer, lighter New Year for those whose resolve remains robust, according to doctors and nutritionists analysing them.
Gathering for a London conference to review evidence behind popular weight loss diets - at just the time of year when slimming ideas are in peak demand - specialists concluded that food fads such as the hunter-gatherer ‘Paleo’ plan or the 5:2 diet can deliver. But it’s hard work.
‘If it was easy, our species would have died out years ago. As humans we have a default to eat,’ said Gary Frost, a professor and chair of nutrition and dietetics at Imperial College London.
The results of that default are looming large in a global ‘wave of obesity’, he said.
According to the World Health Organisation, worldwide obesity - defined as having a body mass index of more than 30 - has nearly doubled since 1980. The latest global figure is that in 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults were overweight.
WAVE OF OBESITY
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 36 per cent of American adults are obese and almost 70 per cent are either obese or overweight. In Britain, a government health study predicts 60 per cent of men, 50 per cent of women and 25 per cent of children will be obese by 2050.
Gathering for a London conference to review evidence behind popular weight loss diets - at just the time of year when slimming ideas are in peak demand - specialists concluded that food fads such as the hunter-gatherer ‘Paleo’ plan or the 5:2 diet can deliver. But it’s hard work.
‘If it was easy, our species would have died out years ago. As humans we have a default to eat,’ said Gary Frost, a professor and chair of nutrition and dietetics at Imperial College London.
The results of that default are looming large in a global ‘wave of obesity’, he said.
According to the World Health Organisation, worldwide obesity - defined as having a body mass index of more than 30 - has nearly doubled since 1980. The latest global figure is that in 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults were overweight.
WAVE OF OBESITY
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 36 per cent of American adults are obese and almost 70 per cent are either obese or overweight. In Britain, a government health study predicts 60 per cent of men, 50 per cent of women and 25 per cent of children will be obese by 2050.