The Times They Are A Changin’?

Happy New Year, DEWHAED readers!

And a happy new year it is. . .  Several news pieces this year have already made me squeal with delight!

Have you heard that the percentage of Americans (women, in particular) who are on a diet has drastically declined in the last 20 years?  The NPD Group, who conducted the study, report:

Our data suggests that dieters are giving up on diets more quickly than in the past. In 2004, 66 percent of all dieters said they were on a diet for at least 6 months. In 2012, that number dropped to 62 percent. Perhaps people are not seeing results quickly enough. . . Americans still want to lose weight, but we are seeing a change in attitudes about being overweight.

According to the NPD, from 1992-2012, the percentage of female dieters has dropped from 34% to 23%.

Then, of course, there was the recent JAMA publication, a meta-analytic research review (that means the results are powerful!) that found that overweight people have a lower risk of mortality than people of “normal” weight.  The study even found that those who are low grade obese (BMI = 30-34.9) had equal rates of mortality as their “normal”-weight peers.

And, just last week, UCLA Sociologist, Dr. Abigail Saguy wrote a fabulous OP-ED for the LA Times.  Saguy recently published the book, What’s Wrong With Fat?, which I can’t wait to get my hands on when it (hopefully) arrives in my mailbox this week.  Take a peak here:

I was able to book Dr. Saguy to speak in March to a group of local eating-disorder professionals I chair, and I can’t wait to hear her talk.

Hope your new year is off to a healthy and happy start. . . .