Research

Adherence

Community-level environmental interventions (e.g., EPODE) are more effective for preventing obesity than individual dietary counseling, particularly in children.

Advocate for or participate in community-level changes that make healthy choices easier, such as better access to parks, healthy food options in local stores, and school-based health programs. Individual willpower is often insufficient against an environment designed to promote obesity.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
This total-community approach... By 2005 the prevalence of overweight in children had fallen to 8.8%, whereas it had risen to 17.8% in the neighboring comparison towns... obesity may be a problem that cannot be solved by individual persons but that requires community action.
Mira Katan · New England Journal of Medicine · 2009

Why this rating

Based on a non-randomized community study with tentative evidence, not a formal RCT.

Source

Weight-Loss Diets for the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity

Mira Katan · New England Journal of Medicine · 2009

DOI 10.1056/nejme0810291

narrative_reviewCited 166×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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