In just five years, the number of overweight and obese people in Australia has doubled. Following this trend, the sales of weight loss products has also doubled, with Australians now spending $208 million a year buying slimming pills and potions.

The weight loss industry is going gangbusters and with the sheer size of the market, and little regulation, impostors are rife.

"There are diet aids that do work, that are clinically proven, but then there are lots of other ones on the market, that we simply don't know the answer to," says Joanne Turner, Dietician and Exercise Physiologist.

So what are five million people buying to battle the bulge?

    * Tony Ferguson meal replacements with 33% of the market, $68 million in sales a year
    * Duromine pills on prescription, $27 million in sales a year
    * Optifast meal replacements, $26 million in sales a year
    * Celebrity Slim, $25 million in sales a year
    * Reductil pills on prescription, $15 in sales a year
    * Xenical over-the-counter, $12 million in sales a year

Felicity Davis slimmed down with the help of Weight Watchers, but initially she went to a bulk-billing clinic where a doctor gave her a prescription for Duromine diet pills.

"This particular drug was a suppressant so it stopped you from wanting to eat food but the side effects were that I had heart palpitations, my mouth was constantly dry and I had trouble sleeping," Felicity said.

Dietician Joanne Turner, says consult your doctor or health professional first.

"There are different products that do different things. Duromine is a prescription medication that reduces your appetite, speeds up your metabolism."

"Reductil, also a prescription medication, makes you feel full after your meal and reduces your appetite, while Xenical, not on prescription, reduces your absorption on how much fat you absorb in your body," Joanne explains.

Our drug watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods Administration ordered doctors to stop prescribing Reductil for at-risk patients as it has been linked to heart problems, high blood pressure and even death, with side effects including insomnia, agitation, irregular heartbeat, psychosis.

Head of Monash University's Obesity Research Unit, Associate Professor Dr John Dixon warns the risks of using such drugs can be extreme.

"It's extremely important to match which one you need for your particular conditions to make sure that they're safe, and that they're going to work for your circumstances."

So which weight loss products work best?

"Australians have probably voted with their feet because meal replacements are very popular and in fact, if properly designed they are very successful," adds Dr Dixon.

The National Health and Medical Research Council used the average overweight woman (80 kilograms) and man (100 kilograms) to rate the top three weight loss products, based on the amount of weight lost over a period of four to 20 weeks.

Optifast was the top weight loser, with users shedding almost ten kilograms, followed by Duromine which loses five kilograms in the same time period but can only be used short term, and thirdly Reductil which will cause the user to drop up to four kilograms.

"There's very little evidence that these products do in fact help us to lose weight and even less evidence they are specific for fat," Dr Dixon argues.

"Medications like Duromine, Xenical, Reductil, I don't believe should be the first thing you go to, I think you need to see a health professional, and get some individual diet and exercise advice," advises Joanne Turner.

"90% of people stack the kilos back on - only diet and exercise will sustain weight loss."

Dr Dixon believes meal replacements are the best and safest option to kick-start your weight loss.

"They stimulate a reduction in appetite, and they can produce very successful weight loss.

"We can use these diets for up to 3 months and we can lose maybe 10-15% of our body weight, 10-15kgs in that time, but of course when we stop, we're going to be very hungry, we can put the weight on, that's the time we need to change our eating habits, and our lifestyle habits into the long term," explains Dr Dixon.

 

Reporter: Helen Wellings
Broadcast Date: January 22, 2010

 

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