The Diet Logs

If your teen is taunted by refrains of “Fatty, Fatty, fo-fatty” and the like, you might want to consider using the new weight-loss drug orlistat, manufactured by Hoffmann-La Roche. A year-long study at Schneider Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park showed that obese adolescents taking the drug (trade name, Xenical) succeeded in controlling their weight better than similar teens taking a placebo. As reported in Newsday:

Overall, teens taking orlistat experienced a reduction in body mass index, a critical measure of whether one’s weight falls within a healthy range for one’s height, while those in the placebo group saw their BMIs rise. Weight increased by about a pound on orlistat and by almost 7 pounds for the placebo group.

Dr. Marc Jacobson explained that this was actually a good thing, because teens tend to gain weight during adolescence naturally because they’re growing, so a year without gaining weight is the same as an adult losing it.

The drug is not without its drawbacks, however, the article pointed out:

Orlistat works by decreasing intestinal fat absorption. While on the drug, patients must take supplements of fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D and K, doctors said. Side effects include loose stools, nausea, abdominal pain and cramps, but experts say the drug is unlikely to have deleterious long-term effects because it remains in the gut and is not absorbed systemically.

This sounds suspiciously like that faux fat someone tried to use with the potato chips that gave people diarrhea a few years ago, no? A report on the study of 539 patients ages 12 to 16 was published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Georganna Hancock wrote this on June 23rd, 2005 and filed it under Dieting, Weight Loss |