FACTS, FADS AND FRAUDS IN NUTRITION 9 



WEIGHT REDUCTION 



The question of body weight is of general interest today. Not only has 

 fashion decreed the slender figure, but life insurance figures show that excessive 

 overweight reduces life expectancy. The medical profession recognizes the 

 dangers of obesity and recommends safe and sane methods of weight control. 

 Physicians are emphatic, however, in their warnings against indiscriminate 

 weight reduction or the promiscuous use of commercial nostrums for this 

 purpose. 



Individuals showing a tendency to obesity fail to realize how small a quantity 

 of food can influence weight. An intake of 100 calories (five teaspoons of sugar 

 or one tablespoon of butter) a day above the energy expenditure may mean an 

 increase in weight of 10 pounds in a year in persons inclined to obesity. The 

 caloric intake must be lowered below the actual daily needs if the body is to 

 draw upon its reserve supply of body fat. But restriction of energy intake must 

 be accomplished without reduction of other dietary essentials. The intake of 

 protein, minerals, and vitamins should be higher in proportion as the caloric 

 intake is reduced. It is possible to plan such a diet which will be palatable 

 and protect against the dangers of undernutrition without resorting to expensive 

 dietary supplements or dangerous reducing nostrums. Intelligent people have 

 already become skeptical of quack reducing remedies as is evidenced by lessen- 

 ing sales, but there are some who still need to be cautioned. 



There are three types of reducing regimes which are or have been popular and 

 should be recognized in their true light by the layman. The true metabolic 

 stimulants are the most dangerous, the laxative salts and drugs are futile and 

 often harmful, the food supplements with recommended dietary regimes are 

 usually harmless but may be fraudulent in their therapeutic claims. 



1. METABOLIC STIMULANTS FOR REDUCING 



(a) Thyroid Products. Less than 5 percent of obese people have a true 

 pathological obesity due to thyroid deficiency. Such cases are treated by thyroid 

 extract carefully administered by a physician, guided by repeated examinations. 

 Most cases of obesity due to overindulgence in food and too little exercise 

 should not, however, be treated in this manner. Quack obesity cures are apt 

 to contain potent drugs which are known to increase the rate of metabolism 

 and thus burn up stored body fat and other tissues. The overweights are 

 usually told that it is unnecessary to diet or exercise and that the product is 

 harmless and will improve health. Serious and even fatal results have often 

 been the outcome of such self-treatment for obesity. 



A certain desiccated thyroid preparation marketed under a trade name has 

 been on the market for over twenty-five years. It has repeatedly been on the 

 docket of the Federal Trade Commission. The last action, taken as recently 

 as January 1937, ordered the promoters to " cease and desist" from six different 

 types of misrepresentation which are employed in their advertising. They 

 were criticised for such misleading statements or misrepresentations as the 

 following: 9 



9 Federal Trade Commission. January 21, 1937. Docket No. 2406. 



