The Parents Zone

What is the best tactic in a losing war? Retreat and regroup or continue marching forward with slight modifications to the battle plan? That was the question at the War on Obesity debate at the recent American Dietetic Association meeting.

John Foreyt of Baylor University supports a diet approach, citing the health consequences of obesity. Linda Bacon of the University of California at Davis, author of Health at Every Size (Ben Bella Publishing), thinks its time for a course correction.

If diets worked, Bacon argues, we wouldnt have the prediction that 90 percent of Americans could be overweight or obese by 2030. She spoke of the collateral damage from a dieting mentality: food and body preoccupation, self-hatred, eating disorders and discrimination.

They both made important points. Foreyt discussed small food changes that can lead to a sustained weight loss. Bacons approach is to eat in a flexible manner that values pleasure and honors internal cues of hunger, fullness and appetite. Both acknowledge the importance of physical activity.

My debate takeaway was that rigid dieting does not work and that a paradigm shift is needed. Keep in mind that a 10 percent weight loss yields health benefits. And a small weight loss is easier to maintain than a large one. In fact, simply avoiding the predicted one- to two-pound yearly weight gain that starts at age 40 is a healthy goal.

An approach similar to Bacons that has a good track record is intuitive eating, developed by registered dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. The 10 principles they lay out in their book of the same name include making peace with food, honoring your feelings without using food and, with exercise, focusing on how it feels to move your body rather than the calorie burning youre achieving. Theres more information at their website, intuitiveeating.org.

It is ironic that we need instructions on how to be intuitive.

Sheah Rarback is a registered dietitian on the faculty of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.

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