Time to put down the rice cakes? Diet and exercise DON'T beat obesity, doctor claims

RESPECTED health experts have reacted with anger after a leading doctor claimed obesity cannot be beaten by eating less and exercising more.

A doctor has claimed that exercise and diet do not affect one's weightGETTY

US-based Dr Christopher Ochner has claimed that diet and exercise do not affect one's weight

A balanced diet and physical activity has been the standard advice for couch potatoes looking to beat the bulge.

But American psychiatrist Dr Christopher Ochner suggests there is little we can do to shift excess fat because obesity is an in-built disorder. 

He says few ever recover from the condition and will always be in “remission”, while only expensive gastric bypass operations can reverse the disease.

Writing in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology  Dr Ochner, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York , claims 80-95 per cent of obese people regain their weight eventually.

But Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: “The paper needs re-reading a few times to realise it is some psychiatrist’s rubbish.

“The message that to lose weight one should eat less and move is rock solid and, when adhered to, will produce long-term results. 

“It does take determination not to eat the high-calorie foods (but) our biology has not noticeably changed from the days when precious few were obese, so it’s nonsense to pin the failure to lose weight on medical grounds, except for those who have genetic or endocrine grounds for being fat".


Tam Fry, National Obesity Forum

Current guidelines state adult men need around 2,500 calories a day, and women 2,000, eating a balanced diet to maintain a healthy weight.

Britain’s obesity rate was 2.7 per cent in 1972 but has rocketed to 25 per cent of adults today due to sedentary lifestyles and overreliance on carbohydrates in foods like pizza, white bread and pasta.

Dr Ochner claims reducing caloric intake triggers a biological response that drives us to gorge on high-calorie foods. 

He suggests this evolved when humans needed to survive in times of food scarcity. But in obese people now it encourages calorie consumption which is impossible to override in society that promotes high fat foods.

He said: “Although lifestyle modifications may result in lasting weight loss in individuals who are overweight, in those with chronic obesity bodyweight seems to become biologically ‘stamped in’ and defended.

“Therefore, the current advice to eat less and exercise more may be no more effective for most individuals with obesity than a recommendation top avoid sharp objects for someone bleeding profusely.

“Few individuals ever recover from obesity, rather they suffer from ‘obesity in remission’.”

Being overweight can lead to a number of killer conditions like type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, breast cancer, bowel cancer and stroke. The crisis in the UK is now so bad treating the problem costs the NHS £7billion a year.

Obesity expert and family GP Dr Ian Campbell said: “There is no doubt, scientifically, the only way to lose weight is to eat less and move more and in that respect the scientists have got it wrong.

“Where they are correct is there are powerful biological forces which make it extremely difficult for an individual to lose weight and keep it off.

“But their argument falls down by advocating for better drug and surgical treatments instead of behaviour change.

“Helping individuals change their lifestyles is the key to long term weight loss, delving into the emotional and psychological causes of obesity.”

Earlier this week the Daily Express told how misguided dietary advice had incorrectly demonised fat since the 1980s when experts said sugar and refined carbohydrates were the primary cause of obesity.

Nutritionists now say the key to a healthy lifestyle is a high-fat, low carbohydrate diet packed full of fatty meats and fish, eggs, cheese, butter and cream and nuts.

But Dr Ochner said: “Many clinicians are not aware of the reasons individuals with obesity struggle to achieve and maintain weight loss.

“Obesity should be recognised as a chronic and often treatment-resistant disease with both biological and behavioural causes that require a range of medical interventions such as pharmacotherapy or surgery as well as lifestyle modification.

“Continuing to rely on behavioural modification will surely result in the continued inability to treat obesity effectively and the premature death of millions of individuals each year.”