Dieting: proxy or cause of future weight gain?

Summary The relationship between dieting and body mass has a long and controversial history. This paper aims to help resolve this issue by making two key distinctions. The first is between dieting as a cause of weight gain/regain and as a proxy risk factor for identifying non‐obese individuals prone to weight gain for reasons other than dieting. The second is between the body mass that is attained following one or more weight loss/regain cycles and the body mass that might have been reached had dieting never been undertaken. Evidence is reviewed on the relation between recent diet‐induced weight loss and sustained weight loss (weight suppression), on the one hand, and weight regain, on the other hand. Furthermore, the reason that a history of dieting in non‐obese individuals reflects a susceptibility to future weight gain is explained. It is concluded that (i) diet‐induced weight loss hastens weight regain but a history of weight loss diets does not cause weight gain beyond that which would occur in the absence of dieting, and (ii) weight loss dieting in non‐obese individuals does not cause future weight gain but is simply a proxy risk factor reflecting a personal vulnerability to weight gain and living in an obesogenic environment.