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Health and medicine

Study disputes link between carbohydrates and obesity

CHICAGO - Older women who ate less fat and more carbohydrates lost about 2 pounds over seven years, a large study showed.

While one obesity expert called the results disappointing, the lead author of the research said it refutes claims by promoters of the Atkins and Zone diets that low-fat diets are partly behind America's obesity epidemic.

"It will help people to understand that the weight gain we're seeing in this country is not caused by the lower-fat diets," said study author Barbara V. Howard of MedStar Research Institute, a nonprofit research group.

The study, appearing in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, included more than 48,000 women, ages 50 to 79. They were followed for an average of seven years and six months.

One group of women lowered the fat in their diets while increasing fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The other group didn't change their diets significantly.

The women on the diet increased their carb calories from 44 percent to 53 percent, while the women not on the diet stayed at about 44 percent carbs.

The low-fat group lost, on average, 4.8 pounds in the first year, then regained most of that weight. The non-diet group stayed at about the same weight over the seven years.

Researchers said their data could answer charges made by popular diet promoters who drew a link between obesity and recommendations of low-fat eating plans. Low-fat diets promote foods like grains and pasta, which are mostly forbidden by low-carb diets.

Dr. Barry Sears, The Zone diet author, said he stands by his belief that the low-fat, high-carb diet caused Americans to gain weight.

He noted that women on the low-fat diet in the study lost only a fraction of a pound per year, on average, and they added 1.6 centimeters to their waists. The other group added 1.9 centimeters.

[Last modified January 4, 2006, 01:08:07]