CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 169Obesity, Physical Activity, DietObesity and Health PracticesNutrition, Health and Food Behavior

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 425 of the 425 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Weighing the Evidence of Common Beliefs in Obesity Research

Open access
Casazza, Krista, Brown, Andrew, Astrup, Arne, Bertz, Fredrik, Baum, Charles, Brown, Michelle Bohan, Dawson, John, Durant, Nefertiti, Dutton, Gareth, Fields, David A., Fontaine, Kevin R., Heymsfield, Steven, Levitsky, David, Mehta, Tapan, Menachemi, Nir, Newby, P.K., Pate, Russell, Raynor, Hollie, Rolls, Barbara J., Sen, Bisakha, Smith, Daniel L., Thomas, Diana, Wansink, Brian, Allison, David B.·2015·Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
DOI 10.1080/10408398.2014.922044PMC PMC4272668
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Obesity is a topic on which many views are strongly held in the absence of scientific evidence to support those views, and some views are strongly held despite evidence to contradict those views. We refer to the former as "presumptions" and the latter as "myths." Here, we present nine myths and 10 presumptions surrounding the effects of rapid weight loss; setting realistic goals in weight loss therapy; stage of change or readiness to lose weight; physical education classes; breastfeeding; daily self-weighing; genetic contribution to obesity; the "Freshman 15"; food deserts; regularly eating (versus skipping) breakfast; eating close to bedtime; eating more fruits and vegetables; weight cycling (i.e., yo-yo dieting); snacking; built environment; reducing screen time in childhood obesity; portion size; participation in family mealtime; and drinking water as a means of weight loss. For each of these, we describe the belief and present evidence that the belief is widely held or stated, reasons to support the conjecture that the belief might be true, evidence to directly support or refute the belief, and findings from randomized controlled trials, if available. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these determinations, conjecture on why so many myths and presumptions exist, and suggestions for limiting the spread of these and other unsubstantiated beliefs about the obesity domain.

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1080/10408398.2014.922044

Cites

425 of 425 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

Items 201–400 of 425

Research works printed but not linked: 31

  1. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. (2012b). A lickety split breakfast. Eatright.org. 5-10-2012.
  2. American Heart Association. (2013). 5 Goals to Losing Weight. Taylor & Francis.
  3. Associated Press. (2013). Fast-food zoning limits and more walkable neighborhoods keys to fight obesity. New York Daily News. May 8, 2012.
  4. 10.1037/0022-3514.63.4.545 · DOI
  5. Brown, P., Sutterby, J. A., and Thorton, C. D. (2010). Combating childhood obesity with physical play opportunities. PTO Today.
  6. 10.1037/0022-3514.61.2.257 · DOI
  7. Cooper, K. (2013). The very best way to lose weight and keep it off. Cleveland Clinic.
  8. DietAdvices.com. (2010). Not eating after 6pm actually helps your diet. DietAdvices.com. 7-22-2013.
  9. GrantWatch. (2013). Foundations aim to foster nourishment and banish ‘Food Deserts’. Health Affairs 31:1119.
  10. Hagan, J. F. Jr., Shaw, J. S. and Duncan, P. M. (2007). Bright futures:guidelines for health supervision of infants, children and adolescents. Pediatrics S254–S288.
  11. Harding, A. (2011). Snacking, not portion size, largely driving U.S. overeating. Yahoo Health.
  12. Ignarro, L. and Myers, A. (2013). Eating after 8PM may increase risk of obesity. HealthIsWealth. 5-9-0011. Available from http://www.amazon.com/The-Heart-Health-Louis-Ignarro/dp/1613890060.
  13. Kirkova, D. (2013). A woman's weight fluctuates by 1.6 stone during her lifetime… and we’re 7.4lbs lighter in the summer. Mail Online. Available from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2358186/Womens-weight-fluctuates-1-6-stone-lifetime--7-4lbs-lighter-summer.html.
  14. Lee, A. (2013). Do Not Weigh Yourself Everyday When Losing Weight. Available from http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Do_Not_Weigh_Yourself_Everyday_When_Losing_Weight.html.
  15. Lerche, D. J. (2012). Lose weight: Eat breakfast. WebMD.
  16. Levenstein, H. (1988). Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet, Taylor & Francis, New York, 122.
  17. Livestrong.com. (2010) Obesity & snacks at school. Livestrong.com. Available from http://www.livestrong.com/article/519859-childhood-obesity-elementary-school-cafeteria-food/.
  18. 10.1001/jama.1996.03530340032026 · DOI · Paper page
  19. Mashta, O. (2013). Mail Online. Yo-yo diet dangers. July 15, 2013. Available from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4921/Yo-yo-diet-dangers.html.
  20. Mason, I. (2012). Yo-Yo Dieting - Dangerous Weight Loss? Ezine@rticles. Available at http://ezinearticles.com/?Yo-Yo-Dieting–Dangerous-Weight-Loss?&id=153031.
  21. Mayo Clinic Staff. (2012). Snacks: How they fit into your weight-loss plan. MayoClinic. Available from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/weight-loss/in-depth/healthy-diet/art-20046267.
  22. McAllister, C. (2011). What is the effect of skipping breakfast? Livestrong Foundation. 5-10-2012. Available from http://www.creators.com/health/rallie-mcallister-your-health/eating-breakfast-boosts-weight-loss.html.
  23. National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (2010). American Heart Association, 2010 Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA, Taylor & Francis, Reston, VA.
  24. Schuna, C. (2011). Why not to eat after 7 P.M. Livestrong. Available from http://www.livestrong.com/article/482737-why-not-to-eat-after-7-p-m/.
  25. Taft, W. (2013). Eat At Least 3 Hours Before Going to Sleep. WillTaft.com. Available from http://willtaft.com/eat-at-least-3-hours-before-going-to-sleep/.
  26. Trotter, K. (2012). Why You Shouldn't Weigh Yourself Daily. Huffington Post. Available from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/kathleen-trotter/losing-weight-weighing-yourself_b_2235153.html.
  27. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Healthy People 2010, 2nd ed., Taylor & Francis, Washington, D.C.
  28. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2008). Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report, 2008. Taylor & Francis, Washington, DC.
  29. ver Ploeg, M., Breneman, V., Farrigan, T., Hopkins, D., Biing-Hwan, L., Nord, M., Smith, T. A., Williams, R., Kinnison, K., Olander, C., Singh, A. and Tuckermanty, E. (2012). Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding Food Desserts and their Consequences: Report to Congress. Taylor & Francis. Available from: Access to Affordable and Nutrition Food-Measuring and Understanding Food Desers and their Consequences.
  30. Voss, G. (2012). Break the dangerous cycle of yo-yo dieting. MSNBC Today Health. Available from http://www.today.com/id/36462134/ns/today-today_health/t/break-dangerous-cycle-yo-yo-dieting/#.VFzxhvnF8s8.
  31. Zeratsky, K. (2011). Why does eating a healthy breakfast help control weight? Mayo Clinic. 5-10-2012. Available from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/weight-loss/expert-answers/food-and-nutrition/faq-20058449.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

See all 169

Related

See all

Metadata

Authors
Casazza, K., Brown, A., Astrup, A., Bertz, F., Baum, C., Brown, M. B., Dawson, J., Durant, N., Dutton, G., Fields, D. A., Fontaine, K. R., Heymsfield, S., Levitsky, D., Mehta, T., Menachemi, N., Newby, P. K., Pate, R., Raynor, H., Rolls, B. J., Sen, B., Smith, D. L., Thomas, D., Wansink, B., & Allison, D. B.
Affiliations
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
  • University of Copenhagen (DK)
  • Cornell University (US)
  • Middle Tennessee State University (US)
  • ,
  • University of Oklahoma (US)
  • Pennington Biomedical Institute, George A. Bray, Jr. Endowed Super Chair in Nutrition, Metabolism-Body Composition, Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA
  • Boston University (US)
  • University of South Carolina (US)
  • University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
  • Pennsylvania State University (US)
  • Montclair State University (US)
Corresponding author
Allison, David B.
ORCID
Venue
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2015-06-08
Volume
55
Issue
14
Pages
2014-2053
ISSN
  • 1040-8398 (ISSN-L)
  • 1549-7852
DOI
10.1080/10408398.2014.922044
PMC
PMC4272668
OpenAlex
W2028081588
Cited by
169
References
419
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 55 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 10
FWCI
2.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (T32HL072757)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (T32DK062710, P30DK056336, P30DK079626)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity and Health Practices
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
Keywords
obesity, weight loss, rapid weight loss, weight loss goals, stages of change, physical education, breastfeeding, self-weighing, Freshman 15, food deserts, breakfast skipping, fruit and vegetable intake, weight cycling, snacking, built environment, screen time, childhood obesity, portion size, family meals, water intake
MeSH terms
Body Weight, Diet, Humans, Obesity, Research, Weight Loss, Exercise, Sedentary Behavior

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review