Jenny Craig tops review of diet programs

CHICAGO— Trying to slim down? Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig scored the best marks for effectiveness in a review of research on commercial diet programs, but many other plans just haven’t been studied enough to evaluate long-term results.

The two plans are among the most popular and had the best evidence that dieters could lose meaningful amounts of weight and keep it off for at least a year, the review authors said. Pooling results from several studies, the researchers found that Weight Watchers dieters lost an average of at least eight pounds and kept it off for at least 12 months versus about 15 pounds for those using the Jenny Craig plan.

Most participants remained overweight, with weight loss of between 3 per cent and 5 per cent of their initial weight — but that’s a range that medical professionals typically recommend to achieve healthful benefits including lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

“It’s a really important first step to reach,” even if it doesn’t meet patients’ expectations, said study author Dr. Kimberly Gudzune, an internist and researcher at Johns Hopkins University’s medical school.

The study was published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The research review included 39 rigorous studies involving 11 popular diet programs that include support or counselling services and involve fees for products or services. Most studies compared the programs with standard diet information or behavioural counselling patients get from health care providers; long-term results for Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig were mostly better than the comparisons.

Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig include behavioural counselling, coaching or social support — all of which are important for long-term weight-loss success, according to an Annals editorial.