Class takes focus off fad diets to curb obesity epidemic

University of Michigan Health System
Tuesday, 18 November 2003

Expert-led class treats the cause of the problem, not the symptom

Americans spend millions of dollars each year in search of the perfect weight-loss solution from diets like low carbohydrate, low fat and Atkins to The Zone, The South Beach Diet and Weight Watchers, just to name a few.

However, in the midst of America's quest to lose weight, obesity is increasing at an astounding rate. According to the CDC, the prevalence of obesity has increased 74 percent since 1991!

The reason? Many "fad" diets only focus on food and overlook a person's mind-body connection to over-eating. In fact, people have an emotional attachment to food, and eating elicits responses in the brain that can stimulate the drive to eat.

" The diet industry may be overlooking, and in many cases exacerbating, the obesity epidemic by continuing to focus on the symptoms without addressing the underlying causes of our nation's over-eating frenzy," says Marilyn Migliore, M.S., R.D., C.S.W., cardiovascular nutritionist with the University of Michigan Health System Preventive Cardiology Program. "Many Americans are not eating out of need, but rather out of want. Our emotional brains' primitive, yet intense drive propels us to use food to subdue, alter and sedate our feelings."

To take that focus off food and address the root of the problem with over-eating, the University of Michigan Health System Preventive Cardiology Services, part of the U-M Cardiovascular Center, are offering real hope for lifelong weight management in the form of a 12-week workshop.

The Hunger Within Workshop guides participants though an intensive program unlocking the psychological barriers to permanent weight loss. This step-by-step course explores the core reasons for overeating, identifies the triggers that precipitate a binge and helps break the vicious cycle of emotional eating.

For more information, or to contact University of Michigan Health System, see their website at: www.med.umich.edu