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Previous Volume 342:861-867 March 23, 2000 Number 12 Next

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ABSTRACT

Background It is commonly asserted that the average American gains 5 lb (2.3 kg) or more over the holiday period between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, yet few data support this statement.

Methods To estimate actual holiday-related weight variation, we measured body weight in a convenience sample of 195 adults. The subjects were weighed four times at intervals of six to eight weeks, so that weight change was determined for three periods: preholiday (from late September or early October to mid-November), holiday (from mid-November to early or mid-January), and postholiday (from early or mid-January to late February or early March). A final measurement of body weight was obtained in 165 subjects the following September or October. Data on other vital signs and self-reported health measures were obtained from the patients in order to mask the main outcome of interest.

Results The mean (±SD) weight increased significantly during the holiday period (gain, 0.37±1.52 kg; P<0.001), but not during the preholiday period (gain, 0.18±1.49 kg; P=0.09) or the postholiday period (loss, 0.07±1.14 kg; P=0.36). As compared with their weight in late September or early October, the study subjects had an average net weight gain of 0.48±2.22 kg in late February or March (P=0.003). Between February or March and the next September or early October, there was no significant additional change in weight (gain, 0.21 kg±2.3 kg; P=0.13) for the 165 participants who returned for follow-up.

Conclusions The average holiday weight gain is less than commonly asserted. Since this gain is not reversed during the spring or summer months, the net 0.48-kg weight gain in the fall and winter probably contributes to the increase in body weight that frequently occurs during adulthood.

Source Information

From the Unit on Growth and Obesity, the Developmental Endocrinology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (J.A.Y., K.N.S., T.T.N.); the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition (S.Z.Y.) and the Division of Nutrition Research Coordination (K.N.S.), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; and the Nutrition Department, Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center (N.G.S.) — all at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.; and the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston (P.M.O.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Jack A. Yanovski at the National Institutes of Health, Bldg. 10, Rm. 10N262, 10 Center Dr., MSC 1862, Bethesda, MD 20892-1862.

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