An Office-Based Low-Carbohydrate Intervention in Teens: One-Year Follow-Up of a Six-Month Intervention

Low-carbohydrate dieting, a weight-loss technique popularized in the 1970’s, was shown to be successful in teenagers by a research team lead by Dr. Robert M. Siegel. In “An Office-Based Low-Carbohydrate Intervention in Teens: One-Year Follow-Up of a Six-Month Intervention,” researchers reported on how those teens were able to maintain their weight loss 6 months after completing the original study. Eligible participants included children between the ages of 12 and 18 with a BMI greater than the 95th percentile. In the original study, participants were put on a low-carb diet of less than 50 g of carbohydrates per day. They were seen by their pediatricians at regular intervals for 6 months, and again at the one-year mark. The greatest weight loss was recorded during the initial 6 months when participants were regularly seen by the study dietician. At the one-year visit, 56% of participants had a decrease in BMI and 38% had lost weight. The study staff concluded that a low-carbohydrate diet is an effective intervention in obese teens, and that a dietician may play an important role in adherence.

Publication Information

Siegel RM, Rich W, Khoury J. An Office-Based Low-Carbohydrate Intervention in Teens: One-Year Follow-Up of a Six-Month Intervention. Clinical Pediatrics. 2011 Nov;50(11):1062-3.