CMAJ calls on government to regulate commercial weight loss programs

Regulation would discourage innovation, limit solutions

While I share the authors’ concerns about misleading advertising claims by commercial weight loss providers, attempting to have governments regulate the industry would be a huge mistake.

To see the CMAJ editorial go to http://www.cmaj.ca

The first challenge to the proposal would be to establish an accreditation program void of political agendas and special interests [i.e. pharmaceutical companies] while at the same time encouraging innovation and new solutions. Given that no existing major private company offering or medically approved program can be said to meet a realistic criteria of long-term success, limiting entry into this field by requiring new participants to abide by dated and flawed principles would doom our ‘ever-growing’ population to a lifetime of the same end result-getting fatter and less healthy.

The second challenge is the sheer scope of the proposition. The CMAJ editorial focuses on weight loss products, but this is a small part of the $5billion Canadians spend trying to address this health challenge. Outrageous weight loss claims are also made throughout the exercise industry, and recently we have seen the food industry join the fray as the dairy industry and high-fibre food products industry have begun making weight loss claims for their products.

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Much of this money is also spent on books, CDs, DVDs, and website programs which also make various claims. And finally the media itself is constantly reinforcing stereotypes of dieting such as The Biggest Loser television show, and ongoing coverage of anyone anywhere who achieves significant weight loss – no matter how temporary or what the long-term health costs may be. Does the CMA propose the government regulate all of these industries since they all contribute to the problem? And since much of this industry originates in the US, regulation by Canadian governments would have little overall impact.

In terms of diet products and their claims we already have substantial regulation in place. What is required is a strengthening of these regulations and perhaps a review to reflect more accurately a consumer protective stance. The supplement industry recently won the right to make limited claims about the benefits of their products after an exhaustive multiyear battle. All products approved for sale in Canada are proven safe when taken in recommended dosages. There is no value in wasting energy trying to reverse this position. Ephedra, mentioned in the editorial as having “fatal consequences” is illegal in Canada as I'm sure the authors know. And medical supervision of a very low calorie (VLC) diet offers no benefit over a medically supervised VLC diets. Both versions are unsafe and unhealthy.

If a consumer looks carefully at these outrageous claims they should find an adjoining statement that says "results not typical" or "results may vary". It may be useful to change labeling legislation to require these consumer warnings to be larger and more prominent, perhaps in the same type size as the claims themselves.

In closing, I would suggest the CMA and it's members open its doors to the many innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers and private companies that would like to help find a solution to weight gain and obesity, rather than expending energy fighting a massive battle that even if won, might provide no benefit to those in need. Let's do a better job of educating consumers so they are better able to recognize misleading advertising claims.

Let's become "pro-something" rather than "against something".

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