Research: Healthier habits will build both a thinner waist line and high quality of life.

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Healthier habits are the key to a lower weight and higher quality of life.  

The concept of weight loss seems like such a simple concept, yet we continue to focus on on the wrong goals and yo-yo out of control.  The key to long-term lasting weight loss is not cutting calories or exercising your butt off.  The key is building healthy habits that will help you continue to maintain the weight you have lost.  Obesity and being overweight is a nutritional healthy problem that is very similar if not nearly identical to malnutrition.  The difference is that in obesity, we eat too much and not too little calories.  like malnutrition, obesity adversely affects the quality of life in both direct and indirect ways.  To maintain a high quality of life, the nutritional intake should be sufficient and balanced.  In obesity, like malnutrition, it is not and thus obesity-related diseases occur and quality of life negatively affected. 

A recent study entitled “Regulation of Dietary Habits: The effect of losing weight on quality of life” looked at this very question[1].  The study aimed to investigate the effects of regulation of nutritional habits or building better habits on quality of life through a quality of life scale.  The scale was administered through face-to-face interviews on a total of 129 individuals aged 18-65 years.  The researchers used anthropometric measurements, body mass index, and waist circumference measurement to determine the changes in weight and composition.  The composition measurements and quality of life scale were compared between presentation and three months after modification of dietary habits.  At three months after the introduction of better dietary habits, The researchers found a statistically significant decrease in weight, body mass index, and waist circumference measurements.   The also found an overall improvement was observed in all the quality of life parameters assessed with scale.   The scale indicates an improvement in general health, bodily pain, and vitality.  

The bottom line:  The individuals who lost weight by adopting healthy dietary habits had increased in quality of life scores.  This indicates a positive effect of regulating diet on the quality of life.  It is not surprising that the introduction of better dietary habits such as exercise and better food choices could results in increases the quality of life.  We should be aimed to improve the health of overweight and obese individuals and help them gain healthy lifestyles to increase their quality of life.   The goal should not be a short-term goal of fitting in a dress or suit for a wedding.  We should focus on the whole health of the individual and include healthy eating, regular physical activity, and avoiding harmful habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption.  More research is needed but the results of this study are promising.  

References

[1]
I. Bashan, M. Bakman, Y. Uysal, and E. Mert, “Regulation of Dietary Habits: The effect of losing weight on quality of life,” Pak J Med Sci, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 1–4, Sep. 2018 [Online]. Available: http://www.pjms.com.pk
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About the Author

ChuckH
I am a family physician who has served in the US Army. In 2016, I found myself overweight, out of shape, and unhealthy, so I made a change to improve my health. This blog is the chronology of my path to better health and what I have learned along the way.

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