Dr Linda Helps - Sandy is typical of someone trying to lose weight. When she opens her medicine closet, weight loss products abound. There is a cream to rub on the thighs to make cellulite disappear. So far, not much has disappeared. Three herbal products promise to make fat melt away. Nothing has melted yet. There are more creams, more vitamins, more supplements. I had to ask how much Sandy paid for all this stuff. She didn’t know, but at an average price of $20.00 a product, the money was significant.

Sandy is not a stupid woman but she hates being overweight. Always hoping the next product will make good on its weight loss claims, she willingly lays out the cash. Now she has a closet full of weight loss products and hasn’t lost a pound. She’s frustrated and feels misled by false claims.

Closets like Sandy’s exist all over America. Yes, people are ultimately responsible for buying weight loss products, but the weight loss industry needs to regulate itself much more than it does.

Partnership for Healthy Weight Management is a group comprised of people from industry, public advocacy organizations, government agencies, scientific associations and academia. Its mission is to provide sound guidelines for achieving and maintaining healthy weight. It, like other groups, has published voluntary guidelines designed to help consumers compare products and services.

The U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher said, “...with the profusion of products and services available to assist them [consumers] in these efforts [weight loss], consumers must be adequately informed of what realistic results, risks and costs they can expect from using these products and services.” The problem is that consumers are not always informed.

A coalition of the Partnership wants mainstream media to demand proof of advertising claims before they accept ad copy. The intent of this and other similar strategies is to create media responsibility. Nice idea, but the dollars speak louder than voluntary responsibility. Call me cynical, but I have little faith that media will do the right thing.

Look to consumer advocacy groups for information. You might find what you need to make an informed decision. However, there are still a number of products claiming to do what they ultimately can’t. My advice is to steer clear of the “it’s too good to be true” products because they probably are. Instead, find hospital-based, university-linked programs that have a commitment to scientific discovery and data. Follow the research before you jump on a bandwagon. Otherwise, you’ll have end up like Sandy with a closet full of wishful thinking.