Data voluntarily supplied by industry were examined to evaluate the success of commercial weight loss programs and products. Information about the safe loss of weight, the maintenance of this lowered weight, and resultant health benefits were reviewed. Information was received from companies that produce over-the-counter preparations designed for persons with a small weight loss goal and from physician-supervised programs for morbidity obese persons placed on very-low-calorie diets. Regardless of the products used, successful weight loss and control was limited and required individualized programs consisting of restricted caloric intake, behavior modification, and exercise. Although some manufacturers of physician-supervised weight loss products for obese persons hav defined the effectiveness of their programs with controlled clinical studies, other industry programs have only begun to accurately assess their effectiveness or safety. Given the importance to public health of reducing obesity, rigorous studies on current weight control practices should be pursued aggressively.
To determine the prevalence of individual vitamin and mineral supplement use during pregnancy and their relationships with selected characteristics of mothers, data from the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey were analyzed. The responses of 18,549 mothers were used in the analysis, which consisted of both univariate and multivariate statistical analyses. The prevalence of use for each of six supplements varied from 1.89% for zinc to 33.45% for iron. The use of these supplements did not appear to be strongly intercorrelated. Young age was associated with iron use, black race was associated with iron and vitamin A supplementation, and prenatal care and Women with Infants and Children food were associated with iron and vitamin A intake. Smoking was associated with folic acid and iron use, alcohol consumption was associated with folic acid use, and low family income was associated with iron use. The findings of the study may be useful in the future for more specific epidemiologic and clinical studies on supplementation during pregnancy.
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