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DebtFreeGuru.com's - Tip of the Week - Monday, January 19, 2004 |
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10
secrets of the weight-loss industry It's
that time of year when millions of Americans make resolutions to once
again try to lose those same unwanted pounds. And the weight loss business
is booming. From pills, potions and programs to gadgets, diet food and
drinks, we're gobbling them up, seeking an easy solution to our weight
problems. Before
you open your wallet or dive into a new program, consider this: Of the
nearly 55 million Americans who will go on some kind of diet program, a
slim percentage will successfully shed the weight and keep it off. Only
5 to 10 percent of us succeed, but we all contribute to the staggering $40
billion in revenue amassed by the weight-loss industry annually. By the
year 2006, revenues are estimated to top $48 billion. Millions
of us succumb to quick-fix claims such as "Eat all you want and still
lose weight" or "Melt away fat while you sleep." We find it
hard to believe in this age of scientific breakthroughs and medical
miracles that an effortless weight-loss method doesn't exist. But it
doesn't. To
help you sort through the claims, avoid the scams and become a more
educated consumer, here are 10 things the weight-loss companies don't want
you to know. 1.
Most weight-loss product ads are deceiving, so don't believe everything
you read. "False
and misleading claims in weight-loss ads are widespread," declares
Richard Cleland, a lawyer with the FTC and lead author of the report. An
FTC review of more than 300 ads from radio, television, magazines and
newspapers that ran during 2001-2002 found that a whopping 55 percent made
claims promising more than the product or service could likely deliver. "Consumers
really need to read these ads with a big dollop of skepticism," says
Cleland. "Deceptive
ads do nothing to address an individual's weight problem. If anything,
they compound an already serious national health crisis by steering
consumers away from weight-loss methods that have demonstrated
benefits." Claims
such as "rapid weight loss," "no diet or exercise
required," "eat whatever you want" and "take it off
and keep it off" are all hot buttons that advertisers use to get
consumers to buy their products and services, he says. "If it sounds
too good to be true, it probably is." 2.
'Scientifically proven' or 'doctor-endorsed' doesn't mean it works. Plus,
when a product claims to be "recommended" or
"approved" or "discovered" by a health professional,
what does that really mean? "Often
there's no scientific evidence behind Dr. X's claims," notes Dr.
George Blackburn, a member of the government-sponsored Partnership for
Healthy Weight Management and assistant director of nutrition medicine at
the And
often the endorsements fail to disclose that the health professional doing
the recommending has a financial interest in the product, or that he or
she may not have reviewed the scientific evidence. Even if it was
reviewed, he or she may not have used acceptable review standards. And,
says Cleland, "The 'professionals' can be fictitious." 3.
Testimonials are not a good indicator of a product's success. "Testimonials
generally provide little reliable information about what consumers can
expect from using the product," says Cleland, the assistant director
of the FTC's division of advertising practices. Typically,
in the "before" photos, the person appears with poor posture, a
neutral facial expression, unkempt hair, unfashionable clothes and
washed-out skin tones. The "after" photos generally are better
lit. The person stands with shoulders held back, tummy tucked in, wearing
smarter-looking clothes and is carefully made up, coiffed and smiling. More
than 10 percent of the testimonials reviewed by the FTC claimed an amount
of weight loss that was extremely unlikely -- if not impossible. The rest
claimed results that occurred in a very small percentage of users, says
Cleland. Adds
Dr. Blackburn: "Sometimes companies take healthy people, make them
overeat and the "after" picture shown is really what the person
looked like before they began overeating. 4.
Just because the government allows it on the market doesn't mean it's safe
or does what it claims. The
majority of diet products on the market today are dietary supplements.
Under the DSHEA, or Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act passed by
Congress in 1994, the law doesn't require the manufacturers of dietary
supplements to demonstrate that their product is safe or efficacious
before it goes on the market. "It's
a totally post-market surveillance system. In terms of law enforcement,
there are too many of them and not enough of us," says Cleland. In
the last 10 years, the FTC has brought over 100 cases against
manufacturers for false and misleading claims and advertising. "Frankly,"
laments Cleland, "it's just a drop in the bucket of the cases we
could have brought." He
says that despite the unprecedented level of FTC enforcement, misleading
and deceptive ads continue to saturate the market. 5.
Don't believe everything you hear. In
2002, it was heard on more than 650 radio stations with over 700 endorsers
in 110 "They
picked DJs to endorse the product who commanded and controlled their
audience," says Tom Carter, senior attorney in the FTC's southwest
regional office in Dallas, who successfully brought suit against Mark
Nutritionals, as did the states of Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania. "It
wasn't just misleading advertising, it was false," adds Carter, who
just settled the case against the company and its two principal owners. In
only three years of operation, Mark Nutritionals amassed $155 million in
revenue, most of it lost to the millions of consumers who believed you
could "lose weight while you sleep." 6.
'Natural' or 'herbal' doesn't guarantee safety. Consumers
assume that because a product is natural, it couldn't possibly be harmful,
says a Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman. "It's a buyer-beware
industry. Consumers don't realize this," she explains. The
manufacturer is responsible for insuring the safety of their products
before putting them out in the marketplace. Until the FDA receives
evidence that a product is harmful, the manufacturers are free to put
their products out in the marketplace. One
"natural" diet supplement in the news lately is ephedra. It's an
amphetamine-like diet supplement derived from the Chinese herb ma huang
and has been found to constrict the blood vessels, speed the heart rate
and raise blood pressure. The
FDA received more than 16,000 complaints of adverse reactions to the herb,
which is found in more than 200 dietary supplements sold over the counter.
It has been linked to 155 deaths from heart attacks and strokes. Hundreds
of ephedra victims have filed suit. Recently,
after more than six years of study, the FDA announced plans to ban the
"fat-burning" herb ephedra, declaring it a hazard even for
healthy adults. But
ephedra is not the only "natural" product on the FDA's watch
list. It has issued warnings of "possible health hazards"
against herb-supplement products containing chaparral, comfrey, willow
bark and wormwood. Additional items on the watch list include supplements
and so-called dieter's teas that contain senna, cascara, aloe, buckthorn
and other plant-derived laxatives. 7.
Fad diets don't work. "Fad
diet means you get on some type of elimination program and you can't stay
with it," explains Dr. Blackburn. "There's no health benefit
from weight loss regained. If you can't do what you did to cut the
calories to lose those few pounds for the rest of your life, you can't
maintain the weight loss." "Hundreds
and hundreds of diet books have been published over the last few
decades," agrees Mark J. Occhipinti, an exercise physiologist and
lecturer on diet and exercise. "If
any one of them truly worked, there wouldn't be the need for another
one." 8.
It will cost you. According
to the Marketdata's John LaRosa, costs of these programs vary regionally
(franchises have latitude in what they charge) and individually. On
average, joining Jenny Craig will set you back between $199 and $299
initially, plus $70 per week to buy its meals. Weight Watchers charges $29
to join and between $8 and $12 per week for meetings. LA Weight Loss sells
a year's program in advance and averages $575 for a full year's service.
Costs could go higher, depending on how many of the company's bars and
supplements you buy. But
Dr. Blackburn thinks programs such as Weight Watchers are worth the
expenditure. "The
costs of obesity are extremely high. It's not a cosmetics issue.
Successful weight loss of even five to 10 pounds can save hundreds of
dollars per person and hundreds of millions of dollars to the economy in
health-care costs. Programs that teach you a healthy diet and lifestyle
produce the best outcomes." 9.
Don't count on the 'money-back guarantee.' "While
money-back guarantees -- if honored -- may benefit consumers, there is no
reason for consumers to have any more confidence in them than in a claim
that the product will actually work," says Cleland. The FTC has
frequently sued companies that "guaranteed" to give consumers
their money back but didn't, he says. 10.
There is no magic bullet. "There
is no quick fix," stresses Dr. Blackburn. "Let's
be realistic. You can't solve years of overeating overnight. You have to
cut your calories and you have to keep at it. How do you get to play the
piano? You practice! It's the same for permanent weight loss. You practice
and practice healthy eating until you get it right." |
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