com, 2009). Date of Research 4 / / 09 -- Authoritative Web Sites:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2009) The Surgeon General's

Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. Retrieved April

22, 2009 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration public website, at:

http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/

National Institutes of Health (2008) NIH Obesity Research. Retrieved April 22,

2009 from the National Institutes of Health public website, at:

http://obesityresearch.nih.gov/

The main thrust of the two government websites is the direct link between overweight and obesity and numerous diseases such as diabetes and various cardiac, circulatory system, and other serious diseases. According to the sources, overweight and obesity is increasing at nearly epidemic proportions in the U.S., and even includes

children of whom a very high percentage are clinically overweight and at risk of lifelong obesity (HHS, 2009; NIH, 2008). Both the U.S. Surgeon General and the National

Institutes of Health recommend against popular fad diets and suggest that dieters lose weight gradually by following sensible guidelines such as those provided by the newly-

revised food pyramid. Both websites specifically recommend that dieters reduce their intake of high-fat foods, fast foods, and foods with high sugar content and suggest that weight loss through this method...

"Too Fat? No More Excuses: Research Is Revealing How Very
Damaging Extra Baggage Is" U.S. News & World Report, Jan 14/08: pp 57-61)

Consumers Union. "Cut the Fat" Consumer Reports, Jan/04: pp 12-16.

Consumers Union. "Rating the Diets" Consumer Reports. Jun/07: pp 12-17.

Hobson, K. "A World of Ways to Eat Right: Nutritional Experts Embrace Whole

Traditional Diets" U.S. News & World Report, May 26/08: pp 56-62.

Spake, A. "Stop Dieting!" U.S. News & World Report, Jan.16/06: pp 61-66.

Willett, W.C., Skerrett, P.J. (2004). "Beyond Atkins" Newsweek Magazine,

Jan.19/04: pp. 46-54.

To compare the information already collected, I selected seven magazine articles in three news and consumer information periodicals spanning a five-year period to include both the most current information as well as reviews of the Atkins and Slim-Fast programs since the height of their popularity. All seven articles seemed to confirm the same approach recommended by the authoritative government websites. Specifically,

according to these sources, the success experienced by dieters following either the Atkins

or the Slim-Fast program is almost always very short-lived and virtually all